Blue Witch

Summer is a going out...

It's sunny. Finally, after the wettest July probably forever. But, unfortunately, the first signs of autumn have also been visible for the past few days. That cold chill in the pre-dawn, condensation on external glass, extra dew on the glass, ripe blackberries...

I'm going to make the most of what's left of summer today. Good Friend BW and I are going to spend the day painting.

This made me laugh.

The only way the i-Phone can live up to all the hype (via).

Gadgets - who needs them?

Thought for the day

So many tangles in life are ultimately hopeless that we have no appropriate sword other than laughter.

- Gordon W Allport

Not on message

I'm too exhausted from the weekend to write about it.

So, instead, I'll tell you about some big booboos from the advertising/marketing world that I've seen recently.

Stupidly I failed to note most of them down as I spied them, so now I actually come to write this post I can only recall two...

There seem to be a lot of lorries for a company called "Daily Fresh" around. On the side is their slogan, "It's all in the name." Now, that, to me, suggests that it's only in the name and that their produce is neither daily nor fresh. Their website is pretty bad too. I don't know if they are a new company, a rebranded company, or whether I just haven't noticed them before, but maybe it's not too late for them to give some serious thought to the message behind their slogan.

Then there's the latest campaign by Lloyds TSB to persuade people to take out loans in order to fulfil their dreams. The poster for which is a dream for smartarse graffiti artists, as this example from a nearby small town shows:

I'm sure there are more badly conceived adverts around... have you noticed any?

Update: The comments have turned to that London Olympics logo... so, for those who didn't see it weeks ago (is there anyone?), here is the animated version of what some people saw in that...

Thought for the day

The years teach much which the days never knew.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Technical question

I'm trying to help a Nice Lady whose husband has recently died sort out the computer that her late husband managed.

At present it's set up with a profile for him, and one for her (which she's never been allowed to use except under close supervision).

Unfortunately, the email programme is only set up on his profile and I can't find where to enable the connection to also be available to her profile. I could set it up again within her profile but she doesn't know the user name or password and he didn't have it set up to auto-store such things, and kept all passwords in his head.

Tonight I failed miserably to attach a document she'd created in Word in her profile to an email created in his profile, to send it to me at home to print out for her (her Lexmark printer has leaked cyan ink all over the fixed print head, which has set solid so the printer won't work). Luckily I eventually found a flash drive so brought the document home on that.

So, a number of questions:

1. Can Windows XP profiles be combined easily (this would be the simplest way to solve all her problems)? (if yes, then Q2 and Q3 are redundant)

2. If not, is the best thing to do to combine profiles to dump all his documents onto a removable drive and then copy them back into her profile, then delete his profile?

3. What is the easiest way to enable her profile to get access to the email connection in the other profile (dial-up access only at present), and is there a way to get the username and password from the ISP (can't remember who it is; I'd never heard of them)?

3. What is the easiest way to grab a document created in one profile into another profile to attach it to an email (I could have copy and pasted but that seemed ridiculous)?

4. Can fixed printer heads covered in dried ink be cleaned (and if so how) or is it new printer time? If it's new printer time, any recommendations for something cheap to buy, cheap to run, and very easy to use for an older lady who does very little printing - mainly black ink letters?

5. Currently the keyboard has the " and @ keys transposed (ie shift 2 gives you @ and shift ' gives you " which is not what is printed on the keyboard, despite it being a laptop (Toshiba if it helps to know) with inbuilt keyboard! How can this be corrected?

I've never needed to do any of these things... all info gratefully received.

Friday question

Your favourite TV programme of all time?

Thought for the day

Don't spend time beating on a wall, hoping to transform it into a door.

- Dr. Laura Schlessinger

Guest Post by Mi1dred: 2

Hello my lovelies.

Just a quick message today because I am feeling a little queasy.

Kind Old Man decided that he felt responsible that I wasn’t feeling well so came to collect me to take me back to the barn and be checked over.

I even had a free ride and so didn’t have to take myself.

Well, would you believe it, it has turned out that one of my embarrassing little leaks is due to a cracked piston ring. Kind Old Man is very sorry and has promised to fix me up spick and span and will check my valves at the same time.

My spare parts have to come quite a long way so they won’t be here until Saturday and I don’t expect to get back to The Coven until Monday or Tuesday.

Mr BW is very unhappy that we cannot go out to parp to the other cars, but is really pleased that I am having a check over and rebuild, and I should be much better and fitter than a butcher's dog by the time Kind Old Man has finished with me.

BW is delighted at the chance of one last old car-free weekend, and has lots of jobs planned for Mr BW.

Thought for the day

Selfishness must always be forgiven, you know, for there is no hope of a cure.

- Jane Austen

Guest Post by Mi1dred

Hello, my name is Mi1dred.

Forgive me if I sound a little nervous my loves but I am an old lady of 74 and have suffered a bit of a trauma. As a result it has been suggested that I talk about it rather than bottle it all up. So here we go.

I am an Aust1n 7 and for the last 12 years have lived in a huge barn with lots of friends, some of whom are much older than me. Philippe the Renau1t was 92 and still had all his marbles, whilst Clive, a Jagu2r Xki20 was in pristine condition, and was always winning lots of prizes.

Anyway, yesterday I moved home from my barn to a place called ‘The Coven’. The man I stayed with at the barn cried when I left so, whilst I took the one called Mr BW back to the Coven, BW stayed behind to talk to ‘Kind Old Man’ and then followed us home in a ‘Modern’, as we call them.

So, I know you are all busy so I won’t keep you long dears. It was an exciting journey, Mr BW hasn’t quite got the hang of double-declutching but I think my gears still have all of their teeth. We also waved to lots of people and they all smiled at us, some sounded their horns so I parped back. 2 little girls almost fell over in excitement as they shouted and waved at me. I haven’t had so much fun in years.

So I delivered Mr BW back home at what I thought was a sprightly 25mph. He was a little nervous, as he doesn’t quite appreciate yet that us old ladies don’t have as much control over our bodily functions as the ‘Moderns’, so we spurt a little water out at inopportune moments and don’t stop without a little extra help, but he was OK. I do seem to have sprung a leak around my exhaust manifold, but I heard Mr BW call ‘Kind Old Man’ and he was very sorry and said I could go back to the barn for repairs if Mr BW cannot sort me out.

So here I am at my new home. It is quite nice really. I am not sure what the future holds but I have a feeling that I am going to be out and about a lot more than I have been in the last 12 years, which is exciting, so I might come back and write some more for you soon.

Mi1dred is in The Coven

Well, not in, exactly, but at. Although I'm sure she would be in The Coven if there was a door wide enough.

Given that Mr BW appears to be worshiping the ground she rolls on, I'm already beginning to wonder whether I wouldn't have been better advised to encourage him to take up golf again instead...

I think she may talk to us soon.

Fe1t

It's like the night before the FOTCR™ in this house. The excitement emanating from a certain person is quite unnatural.

Rain stopped play last night, so we were unable to test drive the new old broom, but that's a good thing as Local Beaulieu Owner said he is going to give the engine the once over today. I think Mr BW is secretly disappointed as he wanted to clean out the carburettor. I was secretly disappointed because I got 3 and a half hours of a Donkey Talker rather than just an hour (someone came round at 5 and would have had to leave at 6 when we went to see the car, but, as we didn't go, instead stayed until 8.30). Why don't some people get the hint when you tell them that you're really tired and not able to follow what they are saying?

I'm exhausted today. Trips to the Midlands, Donkey Talkers© and attempting to contain Mr BW's enthusiasm would have been enough on their own, but it's the time of year when several local community groups do their craft days, and yesterday was Fe1ting.

I've done that before (scroll down to 5th August), as long-term readers might remember, so I had a bit of an unfair advantage over the novices and several of them got quite disillusioned that their products weren't as good as mine. However, I was secretly delighted, and, at the end of the session, the tutor (a very accomplished local textile artist) invited me to join an exclusive local group of Crafty Bods. Finally. I've been angling for that for the past couple of years, but it's strictly Invitation Only, and asking if one can join is definitely frowned upon, so one has to be subtle, and/or produce consistently good work within view of one of more of the existing group members. I'm not quite sure where or when yet, but, meeting regularly with a group of highly creative people is always inspiring.

I love fe1ting. Turning raw carded fibres into flat, durable fabric is very satisfying. However, it takes more muscular energy than I can currently consistently muster (hence why my second piece is still not quite finished). There must be a mechancial way of doing it. I wonder if putting it repeatedly through an old-fashioned mangle would work?

This one is based on echinacea. It's about a foot square, and I shall make it into a cushion cover, with a background to pick up the deeper purple. It was all done in one go - the flower petals were cut and shaped from fibres, rather than cut from pre-felted pieces in the colours.

When I've finished the second piece I shall begin thinking about making cushions for Mi1dred. Provided that we call her Mi1dred. That seems a good name for a Witches' New Old Broom, surely? We already have the wicker picnic hamper with leather straps (F&M, FOTCR™ once contained foody gifts from Mr BW's PR firm), now all we need is a Blue tartan travel rug. I shall have to seek one out...

Isn't she lovely?

Getting up at 6.45am on a Sunday shouldn't be allowed. But, we did. We went all the way to Birmingham to see another prospective new old broom and it was tatty beyond belief, and, at a couple of hundred pounds more than any of the others we had seen, obviously not Value. Plus there were no signs at all (cf) (it was Birmingham, hey, what did we expect?) *remembers what happened last time she mentioned the B-word derogatorily and hastily crosses out ;)*

Anyway, 9 and a half hours after leaving home, we got back, having seen 2 National Trust places en route back (£30 worth between them, have to get some value out of that Life Membership we have - don't ask me what they were called (Tudory age) as I can't remember, my head is filled with car stuff), but, surprisingly, no flooding at all, and decided that the 1933 Blue Broom in a Wood from Friday night, in BW Blue was definitely the one. As suggested by the presence of Black Fluffy Familar's Twin.
Here she is:


All being well (ie provided that it doesn't rain - currently looking most unlikely - and that she drives OK this evening), we will be bringing her back to The Coven soon. History in our hands.

And yes, you've noticed, she has no fitted trafficators, so Mr BW is hastily brushing up on those arm signals you learn for your driving test and then promptly forget - let's hope they still teach them or we'll be in trouble....

I have a suspicion that the top of the 10' hedge surrounding The Coven, that has needed a trim for the past couple of weeks won't be getting it this week either, and that I had better buy Mr BW some car overalls if I don't want to see oil stains down everything else he owns.

Now, the BW Blue Antique Broom just needs a name...

Portrait of a Familiar and New Old Brooms

Pointy Velcro Claws the Tabby Familiar guards The Coven while the BWs journey around the country, attempting to avoid rainstorms and flooding, in search of an Antique Vintage Broom.

I've always told Mr BW that he'd be amazed what old boys have in barns (I saw it time and again when I lived in the south west), but he never quite believed me. Until last night when we went to see a possible Blue specimen in a village about 15 miles away. The voice on the phone sounded old and tired. We pulled into what looked like Steptoe's yard, in the middle of a dark wood. We were greeted by the spitting image of the Black Fluffy Familar, and her scruffily dressed owner, in his mid 70s, who led us into a barn. And then another bigger barn. Around a million and a half pounds worth of very old cars, at a rough guess. Many of them concourse condition. Unbelievable. About a sixth as many cars as Beaulieu. And then we discovered that the pupil BW who had been taken home from her last day at primary school on Wednesday by her best friend's grandfather in a large old 1920s roller (new trend/yummy mummy competition round here, this), had been taken home by this very man, in the car in front of us.

Were there enough signs that this was the one?

Today we went to the seaside to see another possible broom. It was green, and 1935, younger than we wanted, and the wrong colour (although it had changed colour twice in the past so no doubt could again, but I crave authenticity), but it was absolutely immaculate, as its sprightly 80 year old owner kept telling us. Looking at its documents, it had lived for its first 71 years in a road a couple of miles away from us. For the past year it had been living 40 miles away, in the middle of a town, in a very tatty road, in half of a double garage. Plastic flowers in the hanging baskets and tubs. Another 1920s open-topped roller in the other half of the garage. In the drive a pristine 70s Viva - just like Mr BW's first car.

Were there enough signs that this was the one?

Mr BW has just discovered that there are 329 known variants of this particular Antique Vintage Broom.

Tomorrow he is taking me to see another possible one. I really hope that isn't the one, because it'll be an 8 hour journey back, cross-country, if it doesn't break down. And I know I can't drive at 35mph following, particularly all that way. But it will probably not be tomorrow as I don't think any of the old car insurers are open on Sundays. Well, that's what I'm telling Mr BW anyway. And we might still buy the one from the local Beaulieu - we can't drive it until Monday evening when the owner's grandson can put batteries on cars and shuffle them around to get it out of its barn.

Oh - the portratit of PVC is in acrylic, and the size on the screen (just larger than 7" x 5"). The resolution here doesn't allow you to see all the hairs I painted, but I did count them, and there are the right number ;)

Guest Post: Modern Communities

Shortly (far too shortly for comfort actually, another Spooky Co-incidence) after I posted yesterday's lament on fluffy thinking preventing sense ensuing from brain, Mr Clear Blue Skies Dave emailed me his too-big-to-fit-in-the-comment-box thoughts on the subject of Modern Communities. My spells are just too unreliable in their effects these days (I think it may have been a 'get dave blogging again' spell that got muddled up with a 'sort my fuzzy felt out' spell)... but, a most excellent outcome, I'm sure you'll agree, and many thanks to Dave.

Dave says, "The following ramble is purely based on my own opinions and observations not on any hard evidence, so please feel free to debate and challenge it etc."

Modern Communities

I don't think many people will disagree with me when I say that the traditional style of community (defined as a group of people who know, support, socialise with and live close to one another) is not as common as it used to be. In urban and suburban areas, at least. People may know their immediate neighbours and they may even get on with them, but they probably don't know as many of the people who live within a few minutes walk of their front door as people did twenty or thirty years ago. The reasons for this are, I'm sure, numerous, complicated and inter-related and I'm no sociologist so I'll leave it as an observation and not try to analyse it further.

Homosapiens, however, is a communal animal, born of millenia of co-operation with his fellows, so how has he coped with this breakdown in communities, since it is so fundamental to the way he works? Well, surprise surprise, he has invented new communities to take their places, centered around the use of technology and media. Television and the internet are often blamed for the breakdown in traditional values but the truth is they give us the means to express those values differently, for good or for ill. In the case of communities, the internet has been full of them since its very inception. From message boards through blogging to social networking sites, communities of often like-minded people have been getting together.

Television, too, has the power to create communities, as evidenced by the reactions of Londoners following the July 2005 bombings. Tube passengers were suddenly connected in ways they hadn't been before and the barriers that used to exist between them dropped, at least a little. The reaction would not have been as strong without the rolling news coverage to get us all closer to the events.

The funny thing about modern communities is that, despite the fact that they are more often comprised of people with shared interests (I realise that non-geographical communities, such as volunteer groups, political parties and the like, have always been this way but I don't think those communities have suffered as much or in the same manner as those that are locality-based), they are probably more ephemeral than ever. The example above about Londoners two years ago is a case in point; people are once again as withdrawn and self-absorbed on the tube as they were before the bombs.

To take another example, if you've been reading Blue Witch for as long as I have (over four years), you'll have seen tremendous changes in the community of bloggers and other readers that congregate here. The number of 'In Stasis' blogs on the sidebar is evidence of this. One of them is mine and in my time here I have gone from a lurking avid reader to a regular commentator, to fellow blogger to lurking occasional commentator. Meanwhile I have found new communities elsewhere online that now take up some of the time I used to spend here (if any of you like writing limericks then there is a crazy project to write a dictionary in limerick form that I highly recommend).

It seems to me that, without some sort of external factor, such as real-world locality or employer, that forces a particular structure on a community, they have become very fluid, changing constantly. Without such linking factors, it's easy for people to drift in and out of communities; if you grow tired of it you can move on without any major upheaval such as having to sell your house or get another job. And so people do. Is this a bad thing? I don't know but there will be people out there who think it is and people who think it isn't.

In fact, I'm willing to bet there are communities out there that exist purely to explore that very question. And when they have, they'll move on to something else.

20 years on

Most interesting comments on the definition of 'community today' yesterday; thank you to all contributors. I wish I could make my brain work well enough to pull everything together from recent discussions, but I can't. It's in there, it's been processed, but it won't come out coherently. Frustration, frustration.

I was bemoaning my current state of fuzzy thinking to one of the Nice Ladies the other day. She had no sympathy whatsoever, simply saying, "Now you know how the rest of us feel all the time!" I think the worst thing is that I can't remember who I've said what to.

Plenty of blog topics are flooding into my consciousness... but, Mr BW seems to have finally responded to my spell to procure one of these:

And yes Mr D, I heard what you said last time I mentioned it, you know, the bit about chiropractors, but. I WANT ONE. And, to be honest, the way my body feels at present, a few bumps won't make any difference. In fact, they might cause an improvement.

Yesterday would have been my 20th wedding anniversary. That is, it would have been, had I not called off my first wedding 3 weeks before it was to happen, because I knew that it wasn't right. Fuzzy felt thinking or not, there are some dates that just never leave one's memory, however much one might want them to leave, aren't there? Or is it just me?

I spent a lot far too long of the 4, 5, 6, 7 or 9 years (depending how you measure it) I spent with a previous involved with classic cars and classic car clubs and meetings. It was therefore a fluke, or a strange coincidence, depending on your point of view, that again through a coincidental meeting at a local Open Gardens, Mr BW and I ended up at a vintage car club meeting last night.

Modern cars are boring. Bicycles are far too dangerous in the lanes round here. These may be 80-odd years old, but they will still run on unleaded. They are reasonably priced, non-pretentious, incur no car tax, only cost £50 a year for fully comp insurance, and have simple engines that can be DIY mended and serviced. What more could a Witch want? :)

Now, which shade of blue shall we get?

Community Chest: another question

I've been trying to pull together the results of the questions from last Friday and Saturday. The ones about remembered toys of yesteryear, remembered toys of today, and declining comment on serious posts.

I thought I could do it (and what I was investigating wasn't what any of you who guessed where I was going, guessed, if you see what I mean). But, I'm not sure it's as obvious as I initially thought.

There seem to be layers of other things creeping in. Competition for time, and particularly internet time.

Maybe the link is community?

How would you define the concept of community, in this day and age?

Best search ever

"public perception t£$co" (sorry, couldn't bring myself to write the t-word as they did) from... wait for it...

17 Jul, Tue, 16:52:40 mailgate1.wal-mart.com MSIE 6 Windows XP

Shame they searched with Safe Search on. They'll have missed all the good stuff :)

Lilac haze

The farmers round here are not your usual brand of farmer. They are businessmen in every sense of the word. More likely to be business managers in charge of multi-thousand acre holdings than nth generation farmers' sons, they're almost as quick off the mark when it comes to new ways to make ££££ as the local residents who commute into The City every day.

Evidence of this can currently be seen all around. In response to increased demand from companies manufacturing naturopathic remedies, they are growing acres and acres of borage. Which is an extremely lucrative crop as its oil contains GLA (gamma linoleic acid). It is also rich in oleic and palmitic acid, which produce a hypocholesterolemic effect, and may regulate metabolism and the hormonal system, and produce an anti-inflammatory effect (eg BMJ reported trial of use for atopic eczema).

They may be growing it for medicinal purposes, but the amount of chemical spray being dumped onto it concerns me.

Close up, the flowers are very blue.
En masse they are lilac.
The Buzzy Stripey Familiars are very happy.

On which subject, I must record a classic comment from a relatively local resident from whose fence we kindly and helpfully removed some surplus Buzzy Stripey Familiars last weekend. We always see such occasions as opportunties to educate the public in the ways and importance of such insects, and I was telling her BW Fun Statistic 204: that 80% of pollination is done by insects and 80% of that 80% by Buzzy Stripey Familiars. She thought for a moment and then said, "So, if they pollinate say, an apple or a pear, do they taste better?" Further questioning revealed that, despite the fact that she was clearly an intelligent professional, who lives in a rural area, she had absolutely no idea of what pollination is about. She thought that apples and pears form magically, and then, if insects happen to alight on the swelling fruit, it turns them into the Taste The Difference Range.

Is it any wonder that people use garden insecticides and other chemicals indiscriminately?

If you must use them, please read the labels, and spray very early in the morning, or at dusk, when there are fewer beneficial insects around to be killed. The world's future food supply depends on sensible use. I'm sure this will become a hot issue in the next couple of years. You read it here first...

Thought for the day

Fundamentalism in any sphere is a mark of lack of imagination.

- Name and address supplied

No charge

Thank you for all your contributions to the 3 questions below. Some very interesting points raised. I shall return to the subjects later in the week.

Mr BW and I spent a delightful Saturday evening chez The Planarchists. A delicioius mostly home-grown meal, lots of chat about plants and produce and thingys and whatsits, and then a Wake For The Now Defunct 0% No fee Balance Transfer Credit Cards - the exploitation of which, in conjunction with an offset mortgage, has enabled all of us to have a little bit of revenge on sharky financial service providers save thousands of pounds in mortgage interest over the past 3 or 4 years, which has effectively enabled us to pay off mortgage capital at a super-fast rate. I think that there are at least another 3 of you out there who adopted a similar scheme too.

Our Wake reminded me that I have been intending to post a little table of why the 0% balance transfers with fees credit cards that are now around are not the bargain they appear, and are to be avoided by anyone needing a loan who has a reasonable credit rating (ie who can get a low-fixed-rate loan).

0% balance transfers with fees are a con. I don't think there are any 0% without fee transfers left (I believe that the last was Yorkshire Bank, and the application deadline was 28th February, no points for guessing who grabbed one of those ;)), but, because those of us who used them (and a couple of financial websites and their off-shoot TV programmes) talked them up, there is now a widespread belief that 0% BTs are a good thing.

But they're not. The reason? When you transfer a balance with a 0% offer, you now pay a balance transfer fee, upfront, on the whole of the amount you transfer. With any other type of loan, although you pay interest, that interest will be on a declining monthly balance over the loan term. So, a low-fixed-rate loan frequently works out cheaper, as this table shows (or hopefully will, provided I can remember the html for tables; it's a long time since I did that html course... Update: the table's OK but there's a huge gap, which is probably a CSS/html conflict which I have no idea whatsoever how to fix, so please scroll down...):

So, there you have it. As I always say, there's no such thing as a free lunch. Even lunches that start off free end up as loss-leaders and enticers to unwise spending in the fullness of time.

Take care with 0% balance transfers. The only loophole left is now with the 0% spending for x months cards, which are still a good thing as they enable your money to stay in your account until the end of the interest-free period.

Saturday question

How would the primary school aged children of today answer the Friday Question below, in 20 or 30 years time?

Friday Question

What were your favourite toys as a primary-school aged child?

Another sort-of Friday question

I've got several recent posts sitting in draft that I know will never see the light of day. I know that because they were triggered by things that were around at the time I wrote them, and they're no longer live issues (yuck, I don't like that phrase). Plus, I'm not sure thre are the people around any more to debate them, so I'm not sure I can be bothered to put the effort into polishing them.

Despite the fact that almost no-one entered into any debate on my post about a very serious issue yesterday (there might appear to be 14 comments, but most of them are duplicates becuase the comments haven't responded to spells), I was encouraged to see that my spell on the BBC worked as they featured the issue of over-population (including an eminently sensible older lady from the OPT that I also mentioned yesterday) heavily on BBC Breakfast this morning. They didn't quite make the link to new housing that I made, but, I suppose that would be too hard for the average person to grasp at that time on a weekday morning.

So, why do fewer people comment on serious issues any more? Is it that the subject matter is too controversial, or too challenging, or are people just more interested in other things (eg existing in virtuality or escaping into banality) than real life? (cf)?

And I really do want to know the answer to this one!

We don't need no houses, we don't need no thought control... we need population control

The Black Fluffy Familiar is undoubtedly not just a cat. The evidence is in the way she looks at you. And in the way she manages to find her way into The Coven no matter how many times she is told that she is a cat and we are humans, and Covens are for humans not for cats. And if one needed more proof, this picture, of her trying to find her way in via the roof, taken with Mr BW's work camera, was numbered 666.

Talking of houses, I cannot quite work out why The Thistly Wannabe Autocrat Without Mandate from England or Accountability to Anyone (and do look at that link - how he's voted and spoken in the past are very interesting eg very strongly for the Iraq way and very strongly, for student top-up fees even though his own constituents won't be paying them, and he's never voted on a transparent parliament or on equal gay rights), has decreed that another 240,000 houses need to be built each year for the next 13 years. Presumably anywhere other than Scotland, where there is more space than anywhere else. And more money from the UK tax pot.

Now. We are a comparatively tiny island. Current estimates of population range from 60 to 70 million, depending on whether you believe the government-sponsored collector or the Daily Wail.

Let's suppose we believe the government. I certainly don't, and nor will you if you have any sense, but, let's suppose.

In mid-2005 the UK was home to 60.2 million people, of which 50.4 million lived in England. The average age was 38.8 years, an increase on 1971 when it was 34.1 years. In mid-2005 approximately one in five people in the UK were aged under 16 and one in six people were aged 65 or over.

The UK has a growing population. It grew by 375,100 people in the year to mid-2005 (0.6 per cent). The UK population increased by 7.7 per cent since 1971, from 55.9 million. Growth has been faster in more recent years. Between mid-1991 and mid-2004 the population grew by an annual rate of 0.3 per cent and the average growth per year since mid-2001 has been 0.5 per cent.

Social Trends 2006 says, "The population of the UK is growing, as is the number of homes that people live in. Families and households are changing as more people are living alone, and more young people are living with their parents."

All this needs to be considered against a background of huge influx of migrants (and remember, the official figures don't include illegal immigrants, which could be several million more - people who consume services but aren't planned-for in terms of official services), and the fact that nearly a quarter of births in the UK every year are to non-UK born mothers.

To give just one example of out-of-control migration - why have we got a situation where doctors from overseas now constitute over one-third of NHS medical staff? In many general hospitals, more than two-thirds of junior doctors have trained overseas. It seems that, after 1963, when Enoch Powell encouraged Indian doctors to come into the UK to solve an impending staffing crisis, 'someone' just forgot about supply and demand, and providing enough training places within the UK for us to meet our own healthcare needs. The migration of doctors from overseas continued unabated, and unquestioned, until 2006, when, finally, in response to an outcry about the non-availability of training places for UK medical graduates, the government imposed restrictions on the recruitment of overseas doctors. This not about race. This is about us greedy westerners taking vitally-needed doctors away from the poorest countries in the world. And about depriving our own UK-educated youngsters of the opportunity to make medicine a career choice.

The country is changing. A recent government report by the Commission on Integration and Cohesion shows that many people already think we have let in too many immigrants and migrant workers. Many of our older people are leaving the UK in search of the more traditional lifestyle and values that have gone from the UK, where consumerism, and dictatorship of what is good by the media, reign supreme. It amuses me that it's often the same people who read the Daily Wail and bemoan the influx of immigrants to the UK who are retiring abroad, but, I can't argue with their logic - what they're seeking, what they've worked hard for all their lives is no longer present here, so they have to go where it still is.

The older people are the stability and experience of our country.

If we lose them, then we lose a huge pool of wealth. Not the sort that can be measured in financial terms, but the sort that provides untold spiritual wealth, wisdom, and stability to communities. Look at areas where there are few older people present or active within a community, and note the problems within those communities.

Now, if one looks at what Optimum Population Trust (a charitable think tank in the UK concerned with the impact of population growth on the environment - OPT research covers population in relation to climate change, energy, resources, biodiversity, development impacts, ageing and employment and other environmental and economic issues. It campaigns for stabilisation and gradual population decrease globally and in the UK) says:

Figures released in 2 November 2006 revealed population growth of more than 300,000 for the second successive year, and statistics issued by the Home Office on 22 August 2006 showing that 447,000 people from the EU accession states registered to work in the UK from May 2004 to June 2006. Including self-employed workers, total immigration from these eight countries was an estimated 600,000.

UK population has grown by a fifth since 1950 - in less than a lifetime. There are more than 60 million people living in the UK, one of the most densely populated countries in the world, and our numbers are rising faster than ever before. UK population is growing by the equivalent of a city larger than Cardiff every year.

At an annual growth rate of 0.4% a year (less than the current rate) our population would pass 200 million by 2310. The latest (GAD mid-2004 based) official population projection shows ever rising numbers.

Unless action is taken, UK population is projected to grow by another 10 million by 2074 - that's 57 more towns the size of Luton. These estimates outstrip the last three projections. The government has not yet stated what the limit to population size should be. Act now. Call for a population policy...

Do read some more from the Optimum Population Trust, there's a lot of sense, and information on how the current out-of-control situation could be stabilised.

We don't need all these migrant workers that are being allowed in. In 1991, the estimated numbers of in-migrants and out-migrants were roughly similar but since 1994 onwards the numbers of people arriving to live in the UK exceeded the numbers leaving to live elsewhere.

Time and again we hear officials saying that we do need migrant workers, because we have an ageing population, and because there's no-one to do all the low-paid jobs that our population needs. Now, given that a significant number of the ageing population are going to live in places where "the weather is much better and the food is so much cheaper" (spot the lyric), and that it's the sheer number of people we have here who require the low-paid jobs to sustain them, it's a circular argument. If the population were kept under control (and births to the indigenous population are falling), then it would surely all even out.

We are a tiny island. Our infrastructure and resources can't support a population growing at the rate ours is. And why is it growing at the rate it is? Because there are no government controls or sensible forward planning.

Sorry Mr Prime Minister, but the answer isn't to build 3 million new homes. Even I, a Witch of Very Muddly Brain at Present, can see that. The current situation is unsustainable. In every sense of the word.

Of course, it's not all about migration. It's also about 'the expectations of youth' to have it all, and brand new, given to them on a plate. It's about disintegrating families because all the financial incentives for people to get married and stay married have been taken away by successive governments. It's about people living alone because most of them just aren't prepared to put effort into their personal relationships any more. Real-life relationships are frequently perceived as disposable and transient - hence the need for a gap to be filled, and the growth in the false superficiality of virtual/online social networking. But, that is a subject for another post on another day...

Thought for the day

Joy is not in things; it is in us.

- Richard Wagner

The less one writes, the less one is inclined to write.

Don't you think?

Here's a picture of The Black Fluffy Familiar.
Because I know some of you like such things.

And here's a picture of Mr BW's latest acquisition.
A Munchy Plant.
Acquired from Hampton Court Flower Show Mud Bath Gala last Monday night (BW spell for the RHS for not letting people in until 6.13pm, 3 minutes later than last year and 13 minuts later than scheduled, and for failing to provide an adequate safe surface to walk on; BW Spell for the pathetic coverage on the BBC - 3 programmes, most of which were pre-recorded tangential items).

Munchy Plant now on duty in one of the greenhouses.
Particularly likes wasps, I'm informed.
I'm choosing not to look in its pitchers.

And finally for now, a Value Tip for anyone who uses online supermarket shopping... here's a very clever comparison website that lets you shop with one and see how much the same items would cost with another - and then automatically transfer the whole shop to the checkout of the cheapest if you want. It also tells you of offers on items similar to those you have selected. I can't work out how that can possibly be so, but it is. Most useful. If I used online shopping.

Thought for the day

I believe it to be perfectly possible for an individual to adopt the way of life of the future... without having to wait for others to do so.

- Mahatma Gandhi

Summary

One spell resulted in: two sets of delightful open gardens visited (umbrellas only needed occasionally) , one scrummy dinner for old friends cooked, one lovely surprise visit from My Dog, and his Daddies (who have been very busy recently doing exciting and life-changing things, and will be blogging again soon I am assured, which I'm sure will please many other long-timers) who spared us from eating leftovers all next week (and to whom I demonstrated my Witchy Powers once again by magicking up drop scones (daren't call them Scotch pancakes lest my mentioning the S-word upsets some Northern readers again) which they'd been talking about on the way here), and got even fewer correct on The Coven 2007 Garden Quiz than almost all of the Nice Ladies, even though Mr BW told them most of the answers while I was reviving scraps. What with that and England now finally being smoke free in any places I may need to go (except perhaps walking along streets), I think that was a reasonable result for one weekend.

(And in case anyone needs to take the simple route to reporting smoking where it shouldn't be happening - the number to call is 0800 587 1667 (this is a call centre whose staff will pass details back to the local authority in the area concerned - which is infiintely simpler than trying to track down and contact the enforcing council oneself) *programmes number into mobile phone*).