Editorial for July
A somewhat late editorial as we are halfway through July, and the schools are closed, or rather home schooling has ceased for many. Do I hear a parental sign of relief?
I am late because I have been spending a few days with those of my family within my bubble.
Many of you have very local bubbles which do not need much blowing to enclose your “bubble buddies!” Your bubbles are round with a thicker layer of soapy water whereas mine had to be blown carefully through the bubble wand to thin it so it would elongate and stretch up the M1, A50 and M6 to Manchester. The one I might have liked to blow across to Australia, was just a pipe dream! Manchester was glad to see me. Australia will be a dream for a while yet.
Ha! We don’t seem to get bubble pipes now. As children, Monday, which was Wash Day, was when we were allowed to blow bubbles in the garden as long as we did not blow them onto the washing billowing out and drying on a seemingly unending line. The sheets and pillow cases were fixed there with handmade wooden pegs from the local gypsy. Come to think of it, Monday was probably Bubbles Day as there was plenty of soapy water from the wash. No Bubble Kits or Fairy liquid in those days.
My Nana used to make bubble wands out of Pop’s (our grandfather) pipe cleaners. We had used his pipes but kept losing them in the garden. She would twist the cleaners into a shape much like a single lens lorgnette. In fact I seem to recall holding one to my eye and talking in a rather posh voice, “I say, I say, seen any good flicks lately?”
Clothes Mangler
Later in the day having avoided mangling any clothes because the school holidays were always fine? Or is that selective memory? We were sent to the local corner shop for more pipe cleaners and a quarter of a pound of Black Bullets, a particular Northern mint sweet, the shape of which you can guess .This was my grandmother’s treat to herself for another successful wash day. Once we ate two each on the way back which was forbidden. My Nana being a shrewd lady who never used scales but used her hands to weigh flour, sugar and the like, gave us a sharp look and sent us back to the shop with our money from our piggy banks, to buy her a full quarter. We didn’t even get the reduced quarter bought earlier and on Friday, Baking Day, she declined to make a tin of her holiday toffee. That taught us!
Cat called Jeremy
The newest arrival in Manchester is a kitten called Jeremy. The preparations for his arrival were very thorough and Amazon delivery drivers were kept particularly busy, bringing a basket, special food, a variety of toys and a Cat Gym!
He is a delight and worth every penny, but he probably will enjoy also a day just exploring a large empty paper bag or chasing bubbles. The puzzled look on a kitten’s face when they catch a bubble which then swiftly evaporates, is a joy to see.
They of course do not admit to bewilderment, but sit back on their haunches furiously licking themselves whilst trying to work out what just happened. It doesn’t do to lose face in the cat world.
COVID-19
Covid19 has brought new words to our vocabulary and added extra meaning to some like bubble and zoom. The lockdown has meant also that many of us have tried new pursuits. The number of people, men in particular, now making their own bread, has grown and online sites for learning a new language are extremely popular.
Please let us know at The Kibworth & District Chronicle, if you have tried a new pursuit (with or without success, with or without compliments) this can include pictures of your efforts. We’ll find a title for it e.g. Loving Lockdown or Lockdown Lunacy!
Anyway it has stopped raining and I am going to take a load of washing out of my automatic washing machine and hang it on my washing carousel in the garden with my plastic pegs.
Who said “The only constant in Life is change” ? Answers on the back of a sanitised envelope please.
Roslyn Ousey
District editor
(NB ‘flicks’ are films or movies; ‘mangling’ is feeding wet washing through two moving rollers in a frame called a mangle, to squeeze out excess water.)
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