Yesterday, a very rare parliamentary sitting was called so that MP's were ordered back from their Easter leave to attend a sitting in Parliament. What triggered this extraordinary move was the imminent collapse of the Scunthorpe steel works as the Indian owners were threatening to close the plant completely. The steel making plant at Scunthorpe had been limping on for years but it could be that the tariffs-induced economic crisis proved to be the final straw. The government is going to give itself the powers to take over the running of the plant and to keep it functioning and it could be that there is no alternative but a re-nationalisation of the steel industry. Without such emergency moves, the UK would have been left with no steel when supplies are needed for the railway and other industries, not to mention construction. To be completely dependent on foreign made imported steel would have put vital infrastructure at risk and this no government could contemplate even though the costs are heavy. The last time that I recall the Commons being recalled was on the occasion of the Falklands war and I remember that Meg, Martin and I were listening to the debate when we were making a long journey by car.
The day before,I had ordered and brought into use a faux leather table mat, with which I am highly delighted by the way. I wondered idly why I had not considered something like this before but there is an obscure part of the Amazon purchase website which details when the product in question was first sold. From this, I have gathered that the product only got on the market about two years ago and I imagine that demand has now increased, production methods improved and the costs reduced which is why the product is achieving the popularity that it has. As a way of demonstrating some of its properties, I saw a promotional video in which water was deliberately spilt on the surface (in real life, more likely to be coffee) but this was wiped up within seconds. Over the years, I have only spilt a cup of coffee once on a work surface but this quite enough. On the subject of clearing things up, I did notice when I was a child that my mother always used to wipe her one pair of general household scissors after each use. I now more fully appreciate that the cutting of paper (my typical reason for using scissors) can wreak havoc on the blades. Cutting paper can dull fabric scissors The abrasive nature of paper, especially the fibres and additives in its manufacturing, can quickly reduce the sharpness of scissors designed for cutting fabric. Fabric scissors are typically made to cut smoothly through fabric, and using them on paper can leave them duller, making it harder to cut fabric precisely. So my mother might have known a thing or two by constantly cleaning her scissors. Apparently a spot of WD40 does the trick but I have just requisitioned one of those little cans of oil with a flexible spout to be always on hand in my study (Incidentally, I used to watch in some wonderment as my mother used to put minute drops of oil into the working mechanisms of her sewing machine by letting literally a drop of oil roll off the end of a pin to where it was needed).
Yesterday being a Saturday was the day for our regular meet-up with our friends in Wetherspoons. I was very careful to make sure that Meg was well and truly strapped into her wheelchair and, as it happened, Meg and I and our two friends all arrived within seconds of each other. To one of the friends I gave on a permanent loan a book on the history of 'The Archers' which has been on our bookshelves for at least ten years. As she is a keen Archer's listener, I thought she would really appreciate some of the historical background not least because one of the first producers of the series was a local man. Then, I got our two friends to recite the first verse of Jack and Jill and then make a stab at the second verse. The point about this is that the last two lines of the second verse run 'Jack went to bed, to mend his head, with vinegar and brown paper' and I was intrigued by the reference to the folk remedy of vinegar and brown paper. Now most households possessed some vinegar which has got mildly antiseptic properties so is not a bad way to treat minor cuts and grazes. Now before the days of plastic bags, many packages were wrapped in brown paper (and sometimes tied up with string and sealed with sealing wax, to boot) The point is that many households had quite a copious supply of brown wrapping paper (unlike today) and this was often used to form a type of poultice. So after a minor accident dressing one's cuts and bruises with vinegar and brown paper might have been quite common.
The middle of the day should have seen two carers turn up but only one of then did so, the other having been detained by the police. Now whether she caused the accident or was involved in an accident, we shall have to find out. But as soon the one carer had departed and I got a modicum of food inside Meg, I thought I had better press on and get the front grassed area cut. We know that showers may well come along tomorrow but the back lawn is more easily fitted in between the showers but although pretty tired after this morning's push up and down the hill, I pushed myself on to get the grass cut with only two minutes to spare before the carers arrived for the afternoon call. Having had 2-3 lots of ice cream today, I am at a bit of a loss what to prepare for our evening repast. I will probably just revert to the standby of some apple pie and custard which is one of our regular stand-byes. Tonight having had a fairly busy day I am looking forward to the period after Meg is in bed when I can have a good read off the newspaper, watch the news a little and probably have a nap as well.
© Mike Hart [2025]