I don't usually moan or grumble on this blog. I try my hardest to keep it light and friendly and I hope interesting but two things are bothering me at the moment which I just have to grumble about.
Earlier today we drove in heavy rain to the Derbyshire village I grew up in and where my mother and step-father are buried in the churchyard. I knew with all the rain that the churchyard, especially the path to the newer section, would be very muddy so had taken old boots to put on just to walk through it. As we walked past the old gravestones towards the newer ones beyond the boundary wall I noticed the smell of cows. I assumed the smell was coming from one of the nearby farmer's fields but as we got closer to the graveside we could see that something was amiss.
Earlier today we drove in heavy rain to the Derbyshire village I grew up in and where my mother and step-father are buried in the churchyard. I knew with all the rain that the churchyard, especially the path to the newer section, would be very muddy so had taken old boots to put on just to walk through it. As we walked past the old gravestones towards the newer ones beyond the boundary wall I noticed the smell of cows. I assumed the smell was coming from one of the nearby farmer's fields but as we got closer to the graveside we could see that something was amiss.
There were hoof prints from cows all over the graves and Mum and Dad's grave seem particularly bad and the headstone which had always had a slight tilt was leaning quite badly to one side as if a cow had pushed or nudged against it in some way and it had moved in the loose wet earth.
There was nothing we could do as the rain was streaming down and we were slipping and sliding in the mud so we placed the holly wreath we had brought with us and walked back towards the front of the churchyard. On the small shed in the corner near the taps was a notice. It told us that cows had strayed into the churchyard from the Chatsworth Estate land and that they were aware of the problem and hoped to deal with the damage soon. We are now going to have to go back in a week or two to see what, if anything, has been done.
I was reading this morning about the government plans to introduce voting by photo ID only. This bothers me a lot as I posses neither passport nor driving license. I've never learnt to drive and our passports ran out in 2017 and we never got round to renewing them. I do have a bus pass even though we don't have a regular bus service anymore in the area we live in, it tends to get used on holiday rather than around here and also as ID when collecting parcels from the post office sorting office because, of course, they always try to deliver them when we are out and about.
It occurred to me that maybe if we need to have photo identification that some sort of identity card would become necessary, funnily enough I still have one in my name which was issued to my parents when I was a baby. I assume because rationing didn't fully disappear until 1954. It seems to me that local councils could issue these cards locally much as they do bus passes. They have the technology and can check people through the electoral register and the census returns. Perhaps, fingers crossed, it won't happen but I won't hold my breath as many things I neither like nor understand are happening at the moment, I sometimes feel quite alien in my own country.
Sorry moan over except of course my three usual gripes of -
1. Pot holes in the roads. We had to replace a brand new tyre a few weeks ago.
2. Tailgaters on the roads whom I usually refer to as arrogant bullies.
3. People who don't drop into single file when walking on narrow paths and pavements and glare at you as if it is you who are in their way even though we have usually looked ahead and seen the difficulty and dropped into single file well in advance it's just common courtesy after all.
Grr to them all.
Sorry. Back to normal in my next post.
There was nothing we could do as the rain was streaming down and we were slipping and sliding in the mud so we placed the holly wreath we had brought with us and walked back towards the front of the churchyard. On the small shed in the corner near the taps was a notice. It told us that cows had strayed into the churchyard from the Chatsworth Estate land and that they were aware of the problem and hoped to deal with the damage soon. We are now going to have to go back in a week or two to see what, if anything, has been done.
I was reading this morning about the government plans to introduce voting by photo ID only. This bothers me a lot as I posses neither passport nor driving license. I've never learnt to drive and our passports ran out in 2017 and we never got round to renewing them. I do have a bus pass even though we don't have a regular bus service anymore in the area we live in, it tends to get used on holiday rather than around here and also as ID when collecting parcels from the post office sorting office because, of course, they always try to deliver them when we are out and about.
It occurred to me that maybe if we need to have photo identification that some sort of identity card would become necessary, funnily enough I still have one in my name which was issued to my parents when I was a baby. I assume because rationing didn't fully disappear until 1954. It seems to me that local councils could issue these cards locally much as they do bus passes. They have the technology and can check people through the electoral register and the census returns. Perhaps, fingers crossed, it won't happen but I won't hold my breath as many things I neither like nor understand are happening at the moment, I sometimes feel quite alien in my own country.
Sorry moan over except of course my three usual gripes of -
1. Pot holes in the roads. We had to replace a brand new tyre a few weeks ago.
2. Tailgaters on the roads whom I usually refer to as arrogant bullies.
3. People who don't drop into single file when walking on narrow paths and pavements and glare at you as if it is you who are in their way even though we have usually looked ahead and seen the difficulty and dropped into single file well in advance it's just common courtesy after all.
Grr to them all.
Sorry. Back to normal in my next post.
