Random Musings

I had a fantastic holiday from 1st to 8th August with Catholic People's Weeks [CPW] at Abbot Hall hotel in Kent's Bank, near Grange-over-Sands close to the Lake District. Here is information about CPW: http://www.catholicpeoplesweeks.org.uk,and a preview of the Week: http://www.catholicpeoplesweeks.org.uk/AbbotHall.php. It was a mixture of talks, entertainments, liturgy with Mass every day from Sunday to Friday and free time. The people there were very friendly.

I have joined the Labour Party. The first two sentences on the back of my membership card are:"The Labour Party is a democratic socialist party. It believes that by the strength of our common endeavour we achieve more than we achieve alone." The card is red with a red rose in the top right hand corner. Here is their website: http://www.labour.org.uk

I am devastated at the result of the election on 7 May. Basically the Conservative Party now has a majority in the House of Commons with 331 out of the 650 seats. Labour has 232 seats, Scottish Nationalist Party 56 seats, Liberal Democrats 8 seats, Democratic Unionists 8 seats, Sinn Fein 4 seats, Plaid Cymru 3 seats, Social Democratic and Labour Party 3 seats, Ulster Unionist Party 2 seats, Green Party 1 seat, United Kingdom Independence Party 1, Independent 1 seat, the Speaker 1 seat.

All the opinion polls were showing Labour and the Conservatives level pegging and I was expecting the election to result in a Labour government.

I saw the eclipse at about 9.30 am. I watched it in a local park and the clouds cleared enough for the sun to appear as a small crescent with about 90 percent obscured. It was very impressive. Here are some pictures of the eclipse: http://www.theguardian.com/science/gallery/2015/mar/20/solar-eclipse-2015-in-pictures.

I'm writing this in bed on my tablet computer which I bought on 16 January.

It snowed in Preston on Wednesday night [28 January] and again on Thursday night, but it melted during the following mornings. Today it is cold and sunny.

Yesterday was the first day of 2015. Next Friday, 9 January, Stacey will be released from prison on Home Detention Curfew.

Today I'm wearing a short-sleeved shirt and no coat when outdoors as I did yesterday. The temperature in Preston these two days has been about 61 degrees Fahrenheit.

Yesterday was another warm and fairly sunny day with a forecast temperature of 19 degrees Centigrade [about 66 degrees Fahrenheit] in Manchester. I wore a short-sleeved Cancer Research T shirt, which Stacey had sent me several months ago, and no coat or jacket when outdoors.

I visited Stacey in Styal prison yesterday. She expects to be released on Home Detention Curfew on 2 January 2015.

Today it is warm enough for me to wear a short-sleeved shirt and no coat or jacket when outside. The forecast temperature for north-west England is 16 or 17 degrees Centigrade, 61 or 63 degrees Fahrenheit.