I was thinking the other day about when life (for us) was last 'normal' - you know without drama, worries, illness and such forth. The more I thought about it the more I realised that life is just a series of 'events' that mean that it is only normal - you know, just humming along - for very short intervals, sometimes minutes, occasionally days, and rarely, weeks at a time. Soap operas are the epitome of this - just one dramatic event after another with no breathing space. Real life has those short episodes of normality which would be very boring on the TV. Life seems to be like standing at the side of the road and seeing a yellow car pass by - a flash of normality receding into the distance. So, maybe we ought to relish the normal episodes while they last, and accept the drama, the worries and the fear knowing that they will pass - sometimes slowly, sometimes quicker. Blimey! I'm a bit philosophical this morning! #mindfullness #life #philosophy

My sister-in-law has phoned up in a bit of a flap (rightly) The houses on her street - Essex /Herts borders - had a visit from a group of men 'suggesting' they put flags on their houses, which they'd supply flagpoles for at £150. There were veiled threats to the neighbours who were reluctant ("nice car, shame if it got scratched" "nice dog, does he get ill?") The street is pretty much all elderly people and they're frightened to report to the police in case of reprisals. Not the sort to have doorbell cameras. I've suggested Crimestoppers as an anonymous route. I wonder how common this is across the country? #fascists #racists #flagShaggers

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Back from an exhausting allotment session. Nice chat with our Romanian neighbour - she's given us some tomatoes, peppers and pickling cucumbers in exchange for some of our apples. Apart from them we've come home with the last of the potatoes, apples, pears and a few raspberries and strawberries. I've roughly dug the potato bed ready for some green manure sowing. There's still a lot to do there. #allotment #leicestershire

Today's hurriedly written #TatrasTrainTrip #blog post - where we move from Germany into the Netherlands and home is not too far away.

Across the border — Old People meandering around Europe by train & ferry

#interrail #blogging #CrossBorderRail