The leaves are falling off the trees but the weather is still mild. Nevertheless last week we tried out the logs and open fire. The production went well until the fire was well lit when the room filled 
up with smoke. I spent two hours with the window open trying to improve the draw and waiting for the smoke to clear. Even so the room still smells like a kipperie.Can roasted chestnuts by an open fire be far away?
Meanwhile today’s visitors included this male pheasant who dropped in and only left when I called out “bread sauce”.
Nice Things
Suffolk Book League
One of the best value organisations in Suffolk is the Suffolk Book League (www.sbl.org.uk) whose annual family membership is £15. For this you get reduced entrance fees for nine or so author speakers plus other events. This year’s speakers included Sally Vickers and Chris Mullins. Thursday night’s speaker was Marina Lewycka whose first novel publication was “A Short History of Tractors in Ukraini
an”. Marina read excerpts from her new book “We Are All Made of Glue” and answered questions afterwards. The web page http://marinalewycka.com/glue.html contains the following excerpt:
“Georgie Sinclair’s husband has left her; her sixteen-year-old son is busy exploring fundamentalist Christian websites and becoming more distant by the day; and all those overdue articles for Adhesives in the Modern World aren’t looking too appealing either. So when she spots Mrs Shapiro, an eccentric old Jewish émigré neighbour with an eye for a bargain and a fondness for matchmaking, rummaging through her skip in the middle of the night, it’s just the distraction she needs. And although they mistrust each other at first – … – a firm friendship is formed over the reduced-price shelf at the supermarket.So when two slimy rival estate agents (one with a taste for bondage) start competing to trick Mrs Shapiro into selling her rickety old mansion, home also to seven stinky cats, Georgie must step in and help her new friend. Along the way she uncovers the long buried mysteries of Mrs Shapiro’s past…During the questions it came out that the book is set in North London (Highbury Fields) and includes unscrupulous social workers who collude with estate agents to identify vulnerable people who own property which might be bought for less than market value.It promises to be a good read.
Trafalgar Night 2011
Six months ago Alice & I attended a St. George’s Night celebration in Sudbury and a germ of an idea was planted that we might do something similar in the winter by holding a Trafalgar Night dinner with any funds raised going to Help for Heroes. It would have stayed an idea except for Maggie and Erik Solomon who also wished to raise funds for HfH and were focusing upon a dinner at the Cock Inn, Polstead. I’ve known Maggie & Erik for some time and was called in to provide a touch of oomph and hopefully some ideas, organization and structure. The landlady of the Cock Inn unfortunately become ill in October and we then switched the venue to the Kings Head in Hadleigh. Maggie negotiated a good deal for the meal and focused o
n raising £5 per head for the charity. This was to be a surcharge on the cost of the meal and saved us the task of selling raffle tickets (and locating the prizes). Roger Howlett (one of the diners) suggested that we made everyone complete a Gift Aid form so that the charity could claim back the Standard Rate of Income Tax on all donations. Twenty people attended and a total of £125 was raised without any pain being imposed on the donors. Everyone sang “Heart of Oak”, “No John No” and of course finished with “Rule Britannia”. I did the address to the Immortal Memory. Following day comments included:
“A good evening & we both enjoyed the meal as well”
“Thank you for all the work you did to make the evening such a great success. God bless you”
More details of HfH can be found on http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/index.php?secondtime=1
Bailiff Issues (2)
Earlier in the year (16th August) I wrote about a meeting at Babergh with a so called debtor who was (erroneously) alleged to owe Council Taxes on properties which had been taken over by the Official Receiver upon my “client” being made bankrupt.
On Saturday my “client” came to see me to thank me for my intervention and management of the situation which as of that morning had been satisfactorily resolved.
So chalk one up for the good guys – the system does work and from time to time a councilor can be useful.
Travels of a Zen Dog
“He knows not where he’s going
for the ocean will decide –
it’s not the destination……
it’s the glory of the ride”
quote by edward monkton
http://edwardmonkton.com/
The Zaccheus 2000 Trust
I have received an email asking me to register with Nat West’s Community Force grant programme and vote for the Zaccheus 2000 Trust project (http://communityforce.natwest.com/project/566). Voting closes on the 23rd October.
I am a fan and supporter of the Zaccheus 2000 Trust who are a charity helping people living on benefit or low incomes to access justice when they face claims for debt or fines.
- · They provide intensive help and advice to vulnerable debtors.
- · They act as McKenzie Friends (non-legal support for people without representation)
- · They train volunteers and organisations to provide advice and support to their client group, or to act as McKenzie Friends on their behalf
- · They use evidence from their case work to pursue test cases through the courts and lobby Parliament when the law, legal process or the benefits system is unfair.
I am an alumnus of their training programme for McKenzie Friends. I found it very useful and helpful in my Councillor role when I am trying to help people resolve difficulties with the Council.
Recent changes to the amount of help the government will give people with their housing costs will mean that many thousands of households will be forced away from their homes, jobs, friends and family and into cheaper areas.
The Z2K project will focus on those families. Moving house can be stressful and traumatic for everyone at the best of times, but it is especially for those forced to move while surviving on a small income. It will be particularly difficult for those who are working on low wages who depend upon their local networks for child care help that enables them to work.
Z2K wants to use money from the NatWest Community Trust to employ a part-time co-ordinator to recruit a number of volunteers to assist families to settle in their new neighbourhoods. These locally based volunteers will help with important activities such as enrolling in local schools, registering with doctors while also supporting people with integrating into the local community and making new friends.
A vote costs nothing but the potential return is massive – so please register with Nat West’s Community Force grant programme and vote for the Zaccheus 2000 Trust project (http://communityforce.natwest.com/project/566).
Daily Tipple Boosts Health
The Daily Telegraph of 7th September (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/women_shealth/8744909/Daily-tipple-boosts-health-in-old-age.html)
contained an article on the benefits to women of drinking regularly. And to prove it here is a 1970 photo of my grandmother. She was born in 1891 and so would have been about 80 years old when the photo was taken. She lived for a further eight years – radiant to the end.
The Bureaucrat Mind – Hopefully a Happy Ending in Sight
I had a phone call from a constituent regarding a problem with getting rid of a small refrigerator. Babergh has a Refuse 
Hot Line to deal with oversize items who informed our man that his small refrigerator could not be collected as he lives above ground level on the first floor.
The refrigerator could however be collected if he placed on it on the pavement.
The constituent is in his eighties and lives in sheltered accommodation. The Refuse Hotline was unable to suggest how the refrigerator’s journey from the first floor to the pavement might be accomplished.
I referred the matter to the Council and received the following (edited) response:
This is the official (and correct!) ‘jobsworth’ response. Despite appearing unhelpful, there are good reasons why we discourage our contractors from entering people’s properties. Health and safety – carriage of heavy loads etc., is only one issue here, but must be considered. Additionally there is the risk, as happened last year, of facing accusations of damage and removal of the wrong appliance (resulting in a not insignificant compensation claim!!). In addition – with the firm commercial hat on – our service and cost is based on a ‘time per call’ which is in reality a matter of minutes. We therefore need to manage the time spent by operatives on site to avoid variation claims by the contractor.
Usually we would respectfully request anyone with difficulties to ask a neighbour or family member to help out in the interests of community spirit and this is normally successful. However, there are always exceptional cases that we should strive to resolve and this may be one – 80 year old in sheltered accommodation etc.
I will forward to the client team and establish if a solution can be arrived at, or suggestions can be made.
So definitely a bureaucrat with a heart and hopefully there is a happy ending in sight.
However the only valid reason for not going above the ground floor is the financial one and so once again the Council subtly shrinks the service levels and the people most inconvenienced are the vulnerable and the disadvantaged.
Hatchings 23rd August 2011
In early June I was buttonholed by a fellow parishioner at church drawing my attention to the parking arrangements opposite the Eight Bells in Angel Street. There is a raised portion behind the zebra zig zag lines (see photo) which is meant for no parking but which is often used for parking to the detriment of pedestrians wishing to cross the road.
When cars are parked on the raised portion the visibility of oncoming traffic is hindered which causes problems (in this case) to persons using mobility scooters but the problem applies equally to young children and adults.
Together with the local police constable we referred the matter to the County Council. The good news today is that the white lines have been painted.
So all in all – good news all round!
Where do I sign up? 18th August 2011
Thursday’s Telegraph features an article under the heading “Moderate wine drinking may help promote weight loss” (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8707228/Moderate-wine-drinking-may-help-promote-weight-loss.html).
The article is based on a paper by researchers at Navarro University, Spain and published in the journal Nutrition Reviews.
So I’m seeing if Rioja can get me to just the right side of skinny.
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