I must say that yesterday did not start off at all well. I was awoken by Meg at about 5.30 and she was evidently in the throes of one her agitated moods. I immediately got up and made us both a cup of tea and then gave Meg a pill which a doctor had prescribed several months ago and which sometimes can help in circumstances like this. It seemed to have some affect but the effect wore off quite strongly so I looked in my reference book which is the BMA 'New Guide to Medicines and Drugs' to find the recommended dose. This quite definitive book indicated a dose of between 20-75mg but the tablets I had in sock were only 10mg. Upon this, I immediately gave Meg another pill and, very shortly afterwards, the two young carers for whom I have a great deal of time came along to get Meg up for the day. Whether it was the pills, or the beneficial psychological effects of the two young carers I cannot say but we got Meg turned around and then we had our normal breakfast. In passing, I must say that two young carers in combination either at the start or the end of the day seem to have a good effect upon Meg's morale and mood - the exact mechanisms of what is going on here, I cannot really say. But I will say that this particular pairing of a male and a female carer (one aged 22,m the other 17) are not boyfriend and girlfriend but work very with each other and enjoy coming here as well, so I am grateful for small mercies. I did actually give the male carer some risotto last night as a little treat as I know he enjoys it but it his family are not in the habit of preparing this as part of their normal cuisine. After this, we went down the hill and met with our 90 year old chorister friend but the other who had the fall during the week did not turn up. We were informed that she had a bad stomach upset after the fall and had spent a night in hospital (so that was two hospital visits in three days for her) so I obtained her telephone number from our mutual friend and will text or phone her a little later for a bit of moral support.
Whilst I was preparing the lunch which was just bits and pieces of leftovers thrown together into a stir-fry we tuned into a YouTube presentation of Puccini arias. I think it was a Japanese soprano who was featured and there were certainly no problems with her voice. But I always think of the Japanese, apart from their Sumo wrestlers, as having quite a slim and petite phenotype but this is not what greeted our eyes.I came to he view that the singer might have had a Japanese mother but a Soviet 1950's style tank for a father, so well built was she. I felt that if she had been giving an outdoor performance then when she took her final bows at the end of the performance, it wold probably have blotted out both the moon and the stars. But we had a real treat in store for us later on this afternoon as on BBC they were broadcasting both 'Swallows and Amazons' followed by 'Emma' (Jane Austen) which was my set book for GCE 'O'-level in 1961. The 'Swallows and Amazons' was well cast but this modern production renamed the 'Titty' of the original to 'Tatty' for reasons of sensibility. I thought I recognised views of Catbells and Derwentwater as the film was shot in the Lake District. I was correct in my recollection as although most of the film was shot around Coniston water(the lake where Malcolm Campbell eventually died when attempting to break the world water speed record'), there were some scenes shot in Derwentwater. The production of Emma did not quite live up to the other versions I have this of this classic - Emma herself is made a little 'doe eyed' which rather belies the sharp tongue that she displays in various parts of the novel. Nonetheless, we generally enjoy the BBC productions of Jane Austen and there must have been many versions made over the decades, each with a slightly different 'take' on the story line. As a young teenager, I remember reading the first line ('Emma Woodhouse was young, rich and beautiful and did not have a care in the world' is a précis of this first line) and as a 15 year old reading this, I felt my lip almost curl in derision thinking I did not really wish to ready any further. Incidentally, I suspect that Austen might have nuances concerning the understanding of early nineteenth social class structure and social mores that are lost on 15 year olds but that is another matter. I seem to remember that my sister had to read Trollope for her GCE's and the same comments apply. I must say, though, I thoroughly enjoyed the episodes of Trollope when they were broadcast on the BBC but sometimes these things go in cycles or fashions. The 'Barchester Chronicles', of course, were first broadcast more than forty years ago but perhaps someone might dust them off the shelves and give them a new airing.
There are fears throughout the globe as to whether Donald Trump will make good his pre-election promise to unilaterally impose tariffs from the rest of the World. Trump has said he wants to raise tariffs - taxes on imported products - on goods from around the world by 10%, rising to 60% on goods from China, as part of his plan to protect US industries. But there are fears in foreign capitals about what this could do to their economies. Goldman Sachs has downgraded its forecast for the UK's economic growth next year from 1.6% to 1.4%, while EU officials are anticipating a reduction in exports to the US of €150bn (£125bn). At the same time, there are hopes that close allies and 'friendly' nations might be spared some of these tariffs and I suspect that British officials are working feverishly behind the scenes to try to alleviate the impact upon the UK economy. Of course if Trump cuts off the supply of military weapons to the Ukraine, then other European countries are going to have to make the terrible decisions either to supply weapons (which they can ill afford) or face a situation where the Ukraine cedes some of its territory to Russia in pursuit of a peace deal and we all wonder what target Putin will strike next as he seeks to re-establish the Russian empire of old.
© Mike Hart [2024]