Adoption
They are talking about the problems of adoption on BBC Radio 5 this morning. I feel I must comment.
C was adopted and for most of her working life, she was a barrister dealing with family matters, like divorce, money, care and adoption.
In her view most of the times, things worked out well provided that you had good professionals involved. What worried her in the last couple of years of her practice and life was the cutbacks imposed on court and social sevices by government, which meant problems got worse rather than better. Surely, it is better to get problems properly sorted earlier, rather than have a child grow up to be a drain on society.
But to end this on a happy note. Several times she was acting in an adoption case, where at the final hearing, the new adoptive mother had got pregnant. So instead of one new child, they had two and were twice as happy. It must have been the relief at it all.
It’s a pity she’s not here now, as being uniquely adopted, a mother to three and a barrister working in the field, she would know exactly what should be done.
She was also involved in a unique case, where a black 18-year-old girl, who had been in long term care with a white family applied for her own adoption by them, when the care system expired. The judge and my wife both said that it made being a lawyer worthwhile.
My Walk-In Digital Shower
Two years ago, I installed a new shower. It has no doors and you just walk in.
The floor is uncluttered and there are no doors to open.
The Aqualisa control couldn’t be simpler. It’s just two buttons and a large knob to set the temperature.
The top button switches it on and off and the bottom one is a high-pressure boost. The system remembers the temperature from when you last used the shower. If it’s two hot or cold, you just turn the knob.
So all I do to take a shower is press the top button, wait perhaps a minute until the temperature is correct, undress and walk in.
It has been a real boon since I’ve had the stroke.
As the shower is effectively double size, you have plenty of space for a helper or perhaps to put a fold down seat on the wall. The onlt thing I might do is put a vertical hand rail on the back wall. At present, if I need support, I use the vertical pipe that feeds water to the shower head.
The Juice Carton Spanner
I have a weak left hand due to a stroke and find opening the plastic cartons for things like Innocent smoothies, a little difficult. But I’m getting better and I had no trouble a few minutes ago. However, there must be many others who do, as perhaps their hands are worse than mine because of arthritis or missing fingers.
But all the caps are the same and it should be possible to create a small plastic ring spanner that mates with the cap perfectly. Companies like Innocent might even give them away free with an advert on them, as they’d only cost a few pence each to make.
There are still so many things that need inventing!
I always remember my father had a wonderful pair of round-jawed pliers, that were always being used to open difficult bottles at home. I’v never seen anything like them since.
Addo Elephant Park
The BBC bus is now at Addo, just north of Port Elizabeth. C and I went there when we went to South Africa. It was a highlight. They are showing more of Addo later. Watch it!
Sea Eagles in Suffolk
Plans to reintroduce sea eagles to the Suffolk coast have been put on hold due to the economic conditions.
It would have been nice to see them, but the pig and poultry famers opposed to the plan have realistic fears. Many animals run for cover when they perceive danger and who knows what will happen.
But if the Suffolk coast is so suitable from sea eagles, I suspect that in perhaps the next century nature will take its course and they’ll be back. Look how falcons have come to live in Brussels Cathedral. Remember sea eagles live on carrion, so perhaps their niche is now filled by the countless crows and magpies, we seem to have everywhere. Are these birds partly responsible for the decline in small birds?
CNN Does Whales Again
Boring!
Judy Westwater
Listening to her on BBC Radio 5 now.
ustice – Iranian Style
This report is appalling.
Can we really deal with Iran until they join the twentieth-century?
C Comes to me in a Dream
I don’t often dream of C, as I rarely dream about people, but I did last night. We were house hunting in Hampstead, or more likely a bit south-west. At one point we were in a garage and a lady appeared with a basset hound. He was called Lord Kinloch and two others appeared. We both thought this was the area for us. We were looking at a wreck of a property, when we met the very personable Asian developer. He said that he had the property for us just off Marylebone Lane. C also said she could put him in touch with a solicitor from Swindon, who had property to convert in London. The dream ended as we drove to Marylebone Lane.
The funny thing about the dream was that C was driving a blue Jaguar XJ-S. She had several, but all were red.
The Anonymous Widower 