Well the end of the Autumn Footprints Walking Festival has meant we have been able to switch our attention to the garden and this morning we decided to take the bean row down. It's not been a bad season and as well as enjoying freshly picked produce, we've also stacked up for the winter by freezing much of the crop but still had sufficient to give some away to family, friends and neighbours. Now though the growing season is almost over but we were still able to salvage enough for a few more bags for the freezer and get plenty of seed for next year.
It seems strange now though when walking down the garden path. The garden seems a whole lot longer now that there is an uninterrupted view to the bottom and it also seems much lighter. During the growing season a combination of strong winds and a heavy crop had caused the bean row to list to starboard and overhang the path so much so that it was impossible to walk past it without stepping off the path onto the lawn. Also with the neighbour's apricot tree overhanging the lawn it was almost like passing through a tunnel. The tree was pruned a little while ago so there are no obstructions now to keep the light out! We can now see that there are still lots more jobs to do in the garden but we thought we'd save some for another day ....
Here beginneth the Ilkeston Cam guide to dieting and weight loss. Since taking the photo below on the opening day of the Autumn Footprints Walking Festival in Amber Valley and Erewash just over a fortnight ago on Morley Moor, I've walked in the region of 45 miles. Much of this has been on guided walks organised as part of the Festival and I've made some new friends and renewed old acquaintances . To the experienced walker 45 miles in two weeks may not seem a lot but I've always led a relatively sedentary lifestyle. Now if you listen to the health experts, a combination of a good diet and exercise should lead to weight loss, not that I am overweight any way. The healthy diet is not a problem - my wife sees to that! So after a fortnight's walking I would have expected to have lost a few pounds but the bathroom scales this morning showed an increase of two pounds. I shouldn't be surprised really as some years ago I cut out sugar, sweets and biscuits in an attempt to lose weight after a period of inactivity due to a damaged ankle and I even put weight on then.
The Ilkeston Cam guide to weight loss then is a non-starter but I have to admit to feeling fitter than I did this time last month. I suppose the challenge now is to keep walking, enjoy my food and ignore the bathroom scales!
Walking is the best possible exercise. Habituate yourself to walk very far. - Thomas Jefferson (1743 - 1826)
Town and country folk came together one day last week outside the Guildhall in Derby. It's something they do on a regular basis when a Farmers Market is held on the third Thursday of each month.
The market may be a common sight but last week the stalls fell under the shadow of a 60m high wheel. That is they could have been in the shadow had the sun been shining. The wheel has not met with a universally positive response according to some of the comments by readers of a local newspaper who have several worries about the cost to the City Council. A similar wheel in the neighbouring city of Nottingham seems to have been a success though and it is hoped that the wheel in Derby will attract shoppers to the city too. Wheel or not, the farmers will be back next month with another array of mouthwatering produce and their market is always an attraction. The wheel will also be a bonus as the city celebrates on the 22nd September - the day designated each year as Derbyshire Day.
Farmers only worry during the growing season, but towns people worry all the time. - Edgar Watson Howe (1853-1937)
It's been a week of mixed fortunes for Britain's sportsmen and women. Andy Murray lost to a player ranked much lower than him in straight sets in the US Open and the England cricketers contrived to go four-nil down in the seven match series of one-day internationals against Australia, this despite just beating the Australians to win the Ashes.
But it was the soccer players who grabbed most of the headlines. The ladies exceeded all expectations in the European Championships to reach the final and although beaten by the reigning World and European Champions, Germany, they had a really good tournament and pushed the Germans much harder than the 6-2 score line suggests. Obviously disappointed they will surely come back stronger for the experience. The headline on the BBC site of "Germany Crush England" is far from the truth and shows a journalistic naivete and bias hard to believe from such a usually well respected source.
The journalists also had a field day when reviewing England's two soccer matches last week showing favouritism and bias that was quite unbelievable. In a friendly match seemingly played at half pace against Slovenia which they won 2-0, the players were rated by several national newspapers and websites. Wayne Rooney missed a hatful of chances but received ratings averaging 8 to 9. On Wednesday Emile Heskey played a vital role spearheading the attack in a match that confirmed England's progress to the World Cup Finals in South Africa next year and he could possibly have scored at least one goal and maybe two but for two excellent saves by Croatia's goalkeeper. As for the ratings, those same papers and websites averaged 4 to 5 for Heskey. Now if that's not biased, I don't know what is.
I was not really in favour of a foreign coach for the national team but if coach Fabio Capello can continue to ignore this journalistic bias, then the team may well have a good chance next year. On the evidence of the last two matches though when they were content to play exhibition football they still don't have the killer instinct of the German Ladies. Half an hour here and there playing good attacking football which is all that we saw this last week will not win them anything in South Africa and then the journalists will be digging out those knives again and going for the jugular.
The biases the media has are much bigger than conservative or liberal. They're about getting ratings, about making money, about doing stories that are easy to cover. - Al Franken (1951 - )
Last Thursday, September 3rd, was the seventieth anniversary of Britain and France's declaration of war on Germany, a war in which 50 million people were to lose their lives. The war drew in all the powers of the world, spreading to all corners of the globe and lasting for six years - but did we really learn anything? Today there are still conflicts and there has hardly been a day since the end of the Second World War that shots have not been fired in anger somewhere in the world.
Why is it that the human race cannot live together in peace? The simple answer is that we ARE human and far from perfect but it is a fact that our humanity enables us to remember those who gave their lives in the pursuit of peace and to honour them. A simple act of remembrance took place at the War Memorial on Ilkeston's Market Place on Thursday morning where Merchant Seamen who made the ultimate sacrifice were also remembered. The act of remembering will not stop wars but it does give us just a moment in time to ponder our actions and the impact on our collective futures. If we cannot stop the fighting, maybe we should start a worldwide campaign of remembrance. Maybe, just maybe, it may make people think twice before picking up arms.
Peace is not a relationship of nations. It is a condition of mind brought about by a serenity of soul.Peace is not merely the absence of war. It is also a state of mind. Lasting peace can come only to peaceful people. - Jawaharlal Nehru (1889 - 1964)
Borrowing a phrase often uttered by football pundits on TV "The boy done good" despite its grammatical errors seems a good way to describe the achievements of one of Ilkeston's own, Robert Lindsay. The town welcomed back its famous son for a special event last week.
The Olivier and Tony award winning actor, star of stage, screen and television has never forgotten his roots or his home town and he returned to follow in the footsteps of the late Diana, Princess of Wales who opened the Community Hospital in 1987 to perform another opening ceremony, that of a new operating theatre.
Robert has certainly done well for himself in his chosen profession but knows that when he returns to Ilkeston, he will not be hounded as a celebrity but just treated as one of our own of whom we are justly proud. However this was a special occasion and the trappings of celebrity were all around following his arrival in a chauffeur driven white Rolls Royce as he was filmed for the TV news bulletins. Accompanied by his 85 year old father Norman, also seen in the foreground of the above picture, Robert was quick to acknowledge the fund-raisers of the Rotary Club and the League of Friends. It was they who raised the money to cover the cost of the theatre and its equipment. The new facility at the hospital will enable local people to undergo minor surgery on hands, eyes and skin growths.
Robert also said that Ilkeston is a town with a great sense of community, something that he misses but something he can always come back to. He was also acutely aware that unveiling the plaque in the hospital was just a minor deed when compared to the efforts of the fund-raisers but his good deed in performing the task adds another dimension to that hackneyed phrase "The boy done good!"
The roots of true achievement lie in the will to become the best that you can become. - Harold Taylor (1914 - 1993)
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