What makes a good souvenir?

I am not long back from working around the Caribbean as a cruise lecturer for P&O Cruises - well, some-one has to do it!!!! - and everyone is asking me what I have brought back. Actually, apart from photos and some great memories, very little. When you have weight restrictions on flights it does mean serious shopping isn't so easy.

Actually, I am not one for buying "souvenirs" anyway really. I collect Christmas tree decorations so a glitter-embellished shell, bought in Barbados, is now on my tree ( every December is like a world tour of memories as I put up the decorations), a CD of a steel band will remind me of the weirdness of listening to carols being played around the islands as the sun beats down, and a handful of nutmegs from a tree in St Vincent is my haul... probably not what most of the passengers have taken home.

I do keep a diary on any trip (whether for work or a holiday) and will be creating a scrapbook with postcards, leaflets and memorabilia collected from the ship.

As we had to sign-on as a member of the ships crew, just like anyone in the merchant navy, I also have my "discharge papers". Can you imagine the puzzlement of our ancestors when they decide to trace the family tree and discover them? "What were great great grandma and grandad doing, running away to sea, when they were in their fifties?!"

Time-travelling Terrier in Felixstowe ....

Everyone in our neighbourhood is waiting with baited breath for October 29th, as that is when a dog will go missing. No, we are not psychic...for the past month every other tree and lamppost in the district has been sporting very professional-looking posters of a missing dog. From the photo, and description, the two year old West Highland terrier looks very cute and must be much loved. Perhaps the distraught owners were too upset to realise they had posted him as being missing on a date that was still nearly four weeks away?

Anyway, if the poster is to be believed the dog is still to leave his home - and we are waiting to see if he suddenly appears on the streets, looking rather proud of himself for his Dr Who-style time-travelling!

I know it's too early to ask about Christmas.....

Oh dear I seem to have upset a few people in my first venture into a chat room. I am currently researching an interview for the December edition of Suffolk/Norfolk Life magazine and need to talk to people who have Christmas on their boats. Enrolling in
a Broads chatroom I have had some very helpful replies but one seemed furious I was mentioning Christmas already...I had to point out that a December magazine has to written months before hand.

However another, in my defence, pointed out that "Is it just deemed very sad to discuss Christmas in September, or is also so sad to already have next year's holidays booked for June, August and October". Good point Lee. Thank you.

I just need some caravaners, beach hut owners, etc etc now.... unusual ways to spend Christmas in Norfolk and Suffolk anyone?

party..party..party..

What is the most unusual invitation to a party that you have ever received? Usually they come via email, phone or perhaps a card from a pack of 10. If you have some-one really up on the IT it could be a personally designed invitation complete with photos etc.

I have just had the most unusual invitation - a rubber ear! The Hearing Care Centre, an award winning business in Suffolk, is celebrating ten years of business with a "do", and I have interviewed Karen Finch, the owner, many times - hence the invitation.

The cardboard envelope contained a card with the details of where and when.... and a man-sized rubber ear! This is, the card says, what we have to take along to the Town Hall to be admitted!

Will guests have found unusual ways to display their "ears"? On a chain as a necklace? Suspended as earrings? Pinned on as a badge? I just HAVE to go to the party now.....and will report back when the time comes.

The next time I open an envelope and find an ordinary invitation I shall be quite disappointed. Perhaps I should arrange a party too .... but it would be a bit expensive to send out mini-microphones?

music and singing not knives and hoodies....

All this talk of young people, knife crime, hoodies etc.... may I bang the lonely drum for all the children and teenagers who do their homework ( even if reluctantly), tidy their bedrooms ( even more reluctantly) and spend their spare time not on street corners but getting involved in clubs, youth organisations, hobbies etc.

Not so long ago I was a speaker at the conference of Young Suffolk and had to defend the bad press that they usually get. In my defence I have to say I do try to put the other viewpoint across whenever I am on the radio etc.

Two good examples of some great young people this weekend - both seen on BBC TV.

There were the young folk performers who took the stage in the interval of the Folk Proms (and what a shame there were so many empty seats in the Albert Hall for a great concert!)and the choirs in "Last Choir Standing". I LOVE that programme - and have applied for tickets for the final - fingers crossed I will have the chance to be there to cheer on the choirs, young and old .... probably crying as I do every week in front of my TV!

Great British Picnics 2 .. in VERY unusual places.

Funny how you go months without a picnic and then end up on three in a week... and one in a VERY unusual location.

Who would have thought I would have a picnic underneath a old nuclear testing building? OK - not as dramatic or dangerous as it sounds but still pretty amazing.

Both picnics were at National Trust sites. The first, a more traditional NT property - The Vyne in Hampshire. Beautiful 16th century house, chapel and gardens, lovely cakes in the tea room etc etc.

The second was at Orford Ness in Suffolk as part of an organised trip with
Paddy Heazel, a volunteer who has carried out in-depth research into the military history of the site, as our guide. He has written a book on the subject which the National Trust will be publishing eventually.

No tea room on "the island" ...the secret base for defence experiments. Fresh water and toilets are available on the site but you get there on a NT boat (a five minute journey from Orford Quay)to be conveyed around the Ness on a large tractor drawn trailer, with our own packed lunches ready for a picnic in the vicinity of the famous pagodas.

To have such a knowledgeable guide, and one that could bring history alive with stories of the young "boffins" who worked hard and played hard developing the means for Britain to win two wars, was a real treat.

I knew the site was where radar was developed but didn't know that every bomb was tested there, or that in 1915 the Central Flying School's Experimental Flying Section developed aerial warfare there. In the Second World war it was bomb ballistics that needed the privacy of Orford Ness, and postwar it was the site of secret work on The Atomic Bomb, testing to ensure that none were accidentally triggered whilst in transport by extremes of temperature,vibrations etc.

We also heard how parachutes were developed on Orford Ness, and how it was the need for wartime pilots to be able to operate one-handed as they flew their planes that led to the easy-to-use seat buckles we take for granted on holiday flights nowadays.

How did it stay so secret for so long? A co-operative local population, individual work done on a "need-to-know" basis and the improbability of such a remote location being the site for work that needed ease of transport. It was only when the USA military began to get involved in work there during the Cold War that there was a security fence installed with a hgh number of armed guards to keep people out.


Since they took over in 1993, the NT has demolished many of the decaying buildings and the runways have been removed but they have resisted the temptation to "tidy up" the 16km shingle spit. Bomb craters and many of the old test buildings remain and debrey is still scattered around. Warning signs remind visitors to stay on the marked trails because of the possibility of old ordnance making its way to the surface of the shingle.

Whatever your views on nuclear war, Orford Ness is part of our history and must be one of the National Trusts most unusual acquisitions. The bird life is amazing (our party constantly had their eyes to their binoculars), but with an expert guide the place comes alive in your imagination and you get to go into some of the locked miltary buildings. Remember, there's no tearoom..it just wouldn't look right!

The Great British Picnic

Finding we had a couple of hours to waste between reviewing an art exhibition in Halesworth and a poetry reading in Aldeburgh, I decided that a picnic would be a) a change and b) more economical than "eating out". So we (husband and I) could be seen yesterday teatime sitting on a bench over looking the seafront and the controversial "Scallop", eating sandwiches, dipping celery into dips and munching on some fruit.

(Some thoughts on Maggi Hamblings sculpture first... I cannot understand why some people hate it so much! It rises out of the shingle and, especially when the beach is deserted, looks as though a giant beachcomber has just dropped it there. It is fabulous and so right as a memorial for Benjamin Britten. We were there from around five o'clock until six thirty and there was only one five minute period when there was no-one either sitting by it, wandering around it, climbing on it or taking photographs).

Anyway ... picnics. As a child we were a big picnic-ing family. The full works... ham salad, rolls, proper puddings, and fresh tea made on a primas stove. With all that of course came plates, cups and saucers, knives and forks. The one thing that always stays in my mind is the Washing Up.

Mum always packed a washing up bowl, Fairy Liquid, teatowels etc and everyone was expected to take part in the ritual of Washing Up (using the hot water boiled on the stove, of course. I have teased her about it so much over the forty plus years since.

Last month, when the subject came up again, she finally admitted why she did it. It was because she knew that, once we got home, Dad would sit in front of the TV and doze, while my sister and I went off to do whatever, and she's be left with the unpacking. At least this way she didn't have dirty plates too!

What a logical way to tackle a problem.. no nagging, no sulks... just put up with the teasing while smiling to yourself that you are the winner all along! Nice one Mum!

Bees, eagles, and flying experiences

My challenge for 2008 (to try something new every month for a year) is progressing well. Earlier in May I had a go at beekeeping and almost into June it was falconry at Stonham Barns Owl Sanctuary. The best bit is that the Suffolk Norfolk Life magazine want to feature them in the magazine - and I recorded the experience for a possible "special" at the end of the year on radio.

Fascinating Bee Fact 1. One of the hives had three holes in the wood (nearly as big as my fist) made by woodpeckers who get in, eat all the goodies and then fly out the other side.

Fascinating Bee Fact 2: If you stand in front of the flight path of the bees they stop flying into the hive and hover around... when you move away they resume their journey!

Fascinating Falconry Fact: Lots of our sayings come from falconry ie, "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush"....to cadge something comes from the "Cadge" a wooden frame used to carry hawks in the field and the "Cadger" who wheedled his way into a hunt as he owned the frame. Caddy and Cad derive from the same meaning.

Fascinating Owl Fact- We say that an owl says "Too-whit Two-whoo" but actually it is the male bird and the female bird calling to each other. The male says "Too-whit" and the female replies "Too- who"! Or is the other way round?!

Both experiences were amazing - watch out for the articles and pictures in Suffolk Norfolk Life magazine.

Eavesdropping is Fun!

What is best conversation you have overheard recently? Buses and trains are good locations for ear-wigging....and you can't beat a queue too.

My latest favourite venue is the changing room at the gym.

This week two women were discussing how one of them was enjoying the freedom of an adult son finally leaving home to live in his own flat......

"Mind you", she said, towelling her toned thighs dry, "in the first week he has brought back four loads of washing for me to do, has eaten every evening meal at ours and this morning called in on the way to work to pick up a packed lunch... but it's lovely to have the house to ourselves at last."

Her friend was left speechless... but I was very tempted to say exactly what you are now thinking!

England v France

Having driven over 2000 miles in France over the past three weeks, I feel well qualified to comment on the experience of driving there compared to England.

Ok - much of the driving was on the toll roads so it wasn't free motoring, but even the non-peage roads were well equipped with stopping areas, picnics places and good food and cups of coffee that didn't taste as though it came from a machine, even when it did.

The more I think about it the more I felt sorry for lorry drivers in the UK. How are they supposed to have regular breaks etc when you can drive miles on our motorways with rarely a stopping place?

We came off Eurotunnel and decided to stop for a coffee at the VERY new service area just outside Folkestone. Shiny new (you could still smell the wet paint) with keen staff looking for customers to try out their new coffee making skills on, it looked great - if a little empty. To make the most of the sunny weather (and to avoid paying some VAT) we decided to have our coffee and sandwich "take-away".

Could we find a picnic table anywhere? No....and the wooden rails around the building were even shaped to a point to discourage sitters.

PLEASE can we get our act together and provide the facilites on our roads that drivers want? Especially when you consider the stories today about motorway delays....

Special Sisters

Having spent the last week or so having a holiday with my older sister I reckon there should be a special "Sisters Day" to send cards and gifts to each other. If you are close to your sister (or a brother come to that I suppose) it's amazing how the years just melt away when you are together. I automatically let her make most of the decisions, as I did when I was 8 and she was 16.... yet I really don't mind! (It's quite relaxing really).

There are so many great shared memories and you just sort of know what the other is thinking without saying anything. The best bit is the silly giggly jokes that you come back to and embellish day after day.... just like being 8 and 16 really!!!

What was your New Years Resolution?

On January 1st 2008 did you make a New Years Resolution?

I was presenting the Breakfast show on BBC Radio Suffolk and announced that my resolution was to visit somewhere new or try something different every month for a year. (After all, who says NYR should be boring or worthy?)

In January I went to see a Bollywood film at Cineworld in Ipswich. The film, Welcome, was very funny, very colourful .....and very long!

In February I went to the Suffolk Record Office to a "coffee and cake" lecture on the history of policing in the county, which was excellent. Then in March I braved a VERY cold day to drive to Newmarket to do the tour of the National Stud. A beautiful setting, lots of gorgeous foals with spindly legs and knobbly knees, and plenty of details on what male horses do to female horses at a stud!! (Don't let that put you off - very tastefully phrased - so a place definitely worth a visit).

This weekend, for April, I have been to the Rare Breeds Farm at Baylam. I have lived in Suffolk all my life and, to my shame, have never been before. It really came to my attention when sadly it was the site of the first case of Bluetongue virus in the UK last year... and I was presenting the breakfast show when the news broke.

It was really the huge sympathetic response from callers that made me realise I should visit.

Now all open again and looking wonderful in the April showers, the farm really deserves it's claim to be one of the best attractions in Suffolk. Ciara and Oscar (3 and 1) loved the lambs and the hens especially, and Ben (14) spent ages feeding, then stroking the cows. You can get really close to all the animals and every child gets a bag of food to feed them. There are hand washing facilities, a tea room and gift show and a great time was had by all.

Now - just got to decide what I do or where I go in May.......

Special swings for special children... and annoying cash machines.

Some praise.... and a moan.

Praise for Beale Park in Berkshire who not only have a reduced entry fee for the disabled but a reduction for a carer too. Not only that, but their adventure playground has something for disabled older children and teenagers.

What do you do when your disabled child or grandchild is too big to fit into baby bucket seat swings but isn't safe on an ordinary swing? Beale Park have these wonderful swings that are like suspended circular trampolines, which even a very disabled child can lie on. The day we were there there were two parties from a special school - and they were having a great time.

It's one of those things that you don't think about until you are caring for a disabled child.. but why can't every playground have something suitable for those with special needs? Doesn't the Disability Discrimination Act apply to children's playgrounds?

A larger bucket seat.... a ramp to the slide rather than just steps... it can't be that difficult. Nothing is sadder than a child sitting in a wheelchair having to watch the other children have fun.

Beale Park also has aviaries, animals, a train to ride on and a Little Tike Village play area for toddlers. That would get the vote from my youngest grandchildren - but mine goes to an attraction that has remembered that everyone deserves a nice day out.



My moan? Why are so many cash machines now charging us to get at our own money? At Chievely service area on the M4 we tried three before giving up and taking our custom elsewhere. Wasn't there a protest a few years ago about bank cash machines charging for withdrawals?

Popcorn Factor

Are you an eater when you go to the cinema or theatre? We don't....and so tend to judge films on their "popcorn factor". Some definitely attract more munchers than others. One of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy ( can't remember which one now) was ruined by someone who sat next to us after a shopping trip to the nearest supermarket and worked their way through a three course picnic in three plastic carrier bags. Now, I know it was a long film but that did seem a bit over-the-top.

Excessive coughing in concerts (didn't Radio Four give out cough sweets at a recording once?) is another pet hate .... and people talking in the theatre.

We went to a brilliant performance of Lo'Jo the French/African band who Peppery Productions http://www.peppery.co.uk/ brought to the New Wolsey in Ipswich this week and the women sitting in front kept talking through the first half. A guy in the row in front of them asked them politely in the interval to stop, but they weren't very happy.

They also SO wanted to get up and dance in the aisles but were told to sit down by ushers ... health and safety I expect. (I think we all ended up jiggling in our seats) Hurray for Peppery.... non profit making and bringing great world music to Suffolk.

Goodbye BBC... at least for now.

I walked out of the studios at BBC Radio Suffolk at 9.15 this morning and said "That's it. I can't change my mind now!"

17 years at the BBC including three presenting the weekend breakfast show.... and I had resigned. The end of an era indeed. After 28 years in broadcasting, I don't have to be planning the next programme.

I had so many emails. texts and phonecalls from listeners - they will never know how much I appreciated the send-off. My colleagues managed to render me speechless with a surprise phonecall from my 1980's co-presenter from Radio Orwell and Saxon Radio, Melvyn Prior, who is now presenting on BBC Radio Lincolnshire. This was followed by a montage of very embarrassing clips from my time at BBC Radio Suffolk - ah, the joys of live radio.

Today's programme included some extracts from interviews with some real "stars" including Donny Osmond, Midge Ure, and Dame Kiri te Kanawa.

Actually the biggest response I have ever had from pop music fans was to the interview with Nik Kershaw that I first broadcast about four years ago . He has this amazing fan club who keep each other posted wherever he does a radio interview. http://z11.invisionfree.com/Nik_Kershaw/index.php?act=idx

This weekend I was getting good luck messages from across Britain and abroad! I just HAD to repeat part of the interview for them, and play a song of course.

Now I always like to say I am a "big" Phil Collins fan, and once spent two days on the phone unsuccessfully trying to get tickets to his gig at the Royal Albert Hall, but I have never belonged to a fan club.

Nik Kershaw is from Suffolk. He is a great guy and a good singer but does he know how devoted these fans are I wonder?

http://www.rachelsloane.co.uk/

Shaun the Sheep in my bedroom

One of the big disadvantages of presenting an early morning radio show is the small matter of the alarm clock. It wasn't until nearly four years ago when I took over BBC Radio Suffolk's Sunday breakfast programme (to be followed by Saturday too) that I realised that you could get up at that time if you didn't have a new baby to feed or a plane to catch!

Now I am quite a good sleeper. In my experience the words "pillow," "head" and "sleep" instantly combine, so I don't often have a sleepless night. Friday night was the exception.

In bed at 10.15 and alarm clock set for 4.10am I went sound asleep as usual.... only to wake up 30 mins later. Now when you know you have to get up early getting off to sleep becomes an obsession.

I tried everything.... a milky drink, a chapter or two of a soothing novel, a couple of biscuits.... nothing worked. My brain was on overdrive and refused to let me relax. I tried visualisation... lying on a pink beach in Bermuda ( "now, how long ago is it since my younger son lived there....how long did that rain last... when did I last see the blue dolphin jug I....."), gradually relaxing each part of my body (".. did I remember to put the washing out.....have I made the hair appointment......") . No matter what I tried I couldn't relax and drift off... thoughts kept leaping into my brain.

At 1.10am (with just three hours to the alarm going off) I resorted to the traditional solution of counting sheep. The Suffolk rams in my bedroom soon had wives and lambs to keep them company..... they were eating the pillows and bleating so loudly I am surprised they didn't wake
the street. The last thing I remember is that they had all turned into Shaun the sheep lookalikes and were holding a fashion parade around the bed!

So, in conclusion, forget the advice of the websites

Only ever go to bed when you are feeling tired and sleepy.
Try to create a bedtime routine, such as a warm bath and warm milky drink every night. These activities will then be associated with sleep and will cause drowsiness.
Do not take a nap during the day.
If the early morning sunlight or bright street lamps affect you sleeping, use thick blinds, curtains or wear an eye mask to create a dark environment.
http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/articles/article.aspx?articleId=216&sectionId=9


or to turn yourself upside down - or do the washing up ...
http://www.nvo.com/isleepless/miscellaneousquirkyremedies/


My recommendation is Count Sheep - but make sure they are of the Wallace and Grommit type.........and if your computer is by your bed.....



PS My last weekend as the Weekend Breakfast presenter at BBC Radio Suffolk is Easter Weekend - and then I can put away the alarm clock at weekends!!

Why does wind close schools?

There are some days when I am very glad that I can work from home. The wind and rain are beating on my window, the Orwell Bridge is closed to traffic and BBC Radio Suffolk are announcing some schools are closed.

I can never get my head around why the schools close for bad weather now. When I was at Luther Road Primary school in Ipswich, I don't ever remember it closing unexpectedly. We'd wade through the snow with frozen mittens ( safely on a crocheted string through our coat sleeves), battle against gales or arrive with soaked gabardine macs but School Would Open. A teacher delayed on their journey? We piled into the next door class or waited in the school hall until she got there. Power failure? We put our coats on.

My sons went to Grange Junior School in Felixstowe then to Deben High School. The only day that closed was the day of The Great Storm, in October 1987.

Working in local radio I battled into Ipswich that day, and through numerous snowy days, so that I could join my colleagues ensuring that Snowline, or Stormline or whatever, could be broadcast. Mind you, I did get the despairing call or two from listeners who had told their bosses that Felixstowe was cut off and they wouldn't be at work and were anxious that because I was so publicly at my desk they would fired!

So why does the current young generation have so many days when schools are closed? Will they assume that they will be allowed a paid day off work when they are earning a living, whenever the weather is inclement?

Just realised I sound like one the Grump Old Women off the TV! The talk today is that the weather is getting worse so perhaps the schools that have opened and decided now to close are right.... poor parents though!

I have just spotted a great set of photos posted by Margaret Nelson from Suffolk - some-one I have interviewed many times in my career but usual; about being a Humanist.

Perhaps I should arrange an interview with her about cloudspotting?

Give up your seat for a monk

Should children give up their seats to adults on public transport?

Recent letters in the Times newspaper about a school party claiming all the seats on the London Underground made me smile. I have just returned from my first visit to Bangkok where the custom is that adults should give up their seats for children to use. A sign on the train asks passengers to give priority to the elderly and disabled, pregnant mothers, children……and monks!

Travelling on the Skytrain, I saw a middle-aged male passenger smilingly lifting a child onto his lap ( imagine that happening in the UK or America!) but when the five year old was understandably reluctant to stay with the stranger, the man laughed and stood so the child could use his seat.

I couldn't find out at what age this priority ends – but can you imagine the reaction of a child, used to being cosseted and given priority, suddenly finding that this status no longer applied because they were too old? What a shock!

Apparently in China they have designated the 22nd of each month “Give up your Seat Day"... but children and monks don’t appear to qualify.

The Women’s Institute has campaigned for many things in their 93 year history including community hospitals, apprenticeships and the need for local abattoirs …perhaps when I am at the annual meeting of East Suffolk Federation of Women’s Institutes this week, I could suggest children on public transport as a subject….