Povey Prattle

My lanai  (really a screened in porch) is so vulnerable to wind damage. So today I moved all the furniture inside   Flying furniture could do a lot of damage. My cat is so confused, she usually spends most of her day on the Lana. Naked Lanai Crowded dining area 1 Crowded dining area 2. The white object with an hose is a portable air-conditioner. Car Port items in the laundry room.

Old "map" So it seems that the west coast of Florida will bear the brunt on Sunday evening. I say "it seems"   because the the potential route changes by the hour. For that reason I have ceased to watch T.V,; listen to the radio; or to try to track the storm on the internet.  I'll just wait and see. In the meantime I am entirely grateful for my non-SRQ friends and family members in Bristol, U.K, who have 'phoned; e-mailed, or texted me with  their  expressions of love and concern. That's so precious. One of my dearest friends (Joe R of Granby MA) called me today to express his concerns, and those of his wife D. I told him that I was planning to ride out the storm alone. Joe was adamant in expressing his opinion that this was not a good plan.  he thought that I should not be alone.   I heard him. So now,   when the storm hits I will leave my cat in a safe place with water, food and a litter box, and then de-camp to the home of my fri...

Of course alongside 20 million other Florida residents I am fretting about the Hurricane, and its impact on our homes, hopes, and lives. I live alone, so its easy to get into stinking thinking about the storm. So I've had to get out and about and to be with other people so that I can get out of my head, and instead enjoy human company. Wednesday I had lunch with my dear friends Jack and Donna Chrisman  at Evies Tavern and Grill just off University Parkway at Whitefield Ave., not far from their home. In the evening I was at the Purple Rhino on Beneva at Webber St., there to share a glass of wine with good friends Rick P., Gordon C., John U., and Allan R. This evening  (Thursday) I was again at Evies for a burger with Rick P., Gordon C., John U., Rick R., and John C. Of Friday (10th) I'll be at Dennis and David's home for our weekly gathering called "Ben's Bar"; a gathering in honour of our good friend Ben Morse who died last December. It is utt...

I was at a local market yesterday to buy 1lb of Cod at a good price.   (As an Englishman and a one time Massachusetts resident  I am crazy about Cod.) The mid-twenties fishmonger asked for my order.  I replied "1lb of Cod please". He responded "did you say Cod or Salmon?": "Cod" I said. The young man countered with "I thought you said Cod, but you were looking at the Salmon". I retorted "I asked for Cod, and please do not mock me because I am cross-eyed". He "got" my huma. He could scarcely weigh my Cod for his laughter! LUVIT! ( I used the cod today to make some Codfish cakes.  Yum. yum!!)

xico Hurricane Irma  (the most massive and dangerous storm in the Atlantic since Hurricane Tracking has been possible).  Where is it heading? First of all  spare a thought or prayer for the people of Puerto Rico U.S.A. which is very likely to be hit. Puerto Rico is a entirely  impoverished "U.S.A. Commonwealth" which is all but bankrupt; an Island where the infrastructure has not been well maintained  (no money);  and the power grid is "iffy" to say the least. Secondly the National Hurricane Center is wisely agnostic as to when and where  Irma could hit the mainland U.S.A. Will it veer north and east into the Atlantic?  That's the best hope for Floridians, but it could be tough on the Bahamas and Bermuda. Will it travel up the east coast of the U.S.A,?  Goodish for those of us who live on the Gulf Coast (the west coast), but ghastly for eastern Florida coastal communities, and for the coasts of Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolin...

When I was in England in 2014 I took some time away from my family to visit the lovely (and under-sung) County of Dorset.   (Think Thomas Hardy). At the top of my list was to visit the little village of Tolpuddle.  I was there to think about the 19th Century "Tolpuddle Martyrs". My parents had told me the story. In truth they were not martyrs, but good agricultural workers who combined together to protest their diminished wages  They were "martyred" not for combining to form a prototypical Union, but because it was alleged that they had violated a law against secret oaths. Their " martyrdom" was an unjust sentence of "Transportation to Australia". That sentence provoked  a national outcry.  Do read more here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tolpuddle_Martyrs I am so glad that my Mum and Dad revered the "Tolpuddle Martyrs" and that I was able to visit Tolpuddle back in 2014. Martyrs Museum. As Labor Day came an...

Labor Day, the first Monday in September, was established as a Federal Holiday in 1894, a day to honour the working man's ( in 1894 working man not men and women) contribution to the common good. There is a good reason that a Monday in September was chosen.  For in many European countries the day to celebrate the worker was May 1st "May Day". Not so in the U.S.A. because May Day  was considered to be a Socialist Day, and as every loyal and patriotic American knows socialism is bad, bad, BAD . tib Americans who haven't a clue about  democratic socialism as opposed to  autocratic communism recoil with shock, horror and fear at the very words "socialism", or "socialistic". The easiest way to shut down any conversation about the common weal, (or common good) is to say "but that's socialistic".  Case made?  NAH! So we are stuck with Labor Day as a Federal Holiday with next to no meaning. ,  This means that banks. and libraries, t...