Seeing red, I'm concerned and becoming angry

We enjoyed yesterday evening's trip to the opera via Stroud cinema which showed a relay of a previously recorded live performance of Puccini's 'La Boheme'. I was a bit dubious about this way of accessing culture, but it turned out better than my fears. Mind you I do think that this opera is rather like a modern musical, but with more interesting music and Puccini's clever clear instructions on how it should be presented.

Today started busily with a trip to town to meet the Mayor, her deputy and the town clerk to discuss how the council should respond to recent Government rule changes to parish and town council funding. They are called 'The localisation of Support for Council Tax'. I do fear that this part of a general movement to change the basis of local government which has evolved over centuries. What is happening is that enormous pressure is being put onto local officers and elected members of councils to do the work of this central government, as a way of saving money from the central pots, so that 'savings' can be seen to be made by them. But they have just shifted all that work to voluntary groups, such as most councillors like me, or organisations with no expertise, experience or resources to properly deliver their objectives.

I am mulling over our response, but I'm getting angry, and I am not alone. I can't bear to see the destruction by 'radical thinkers' who seem to have no idea of the impact on communities of their political agendas. The NHS changes, which we in Stroud partly managed to fight recently, and to halt the implementation of local changes which had no support in the community, might be indicators of the potential destruction to services which are essential to our well-being, in my opinion. I am sure that if you look around you will see the changes I have been describing coming to your streets very soon if not now.

I am pleased to hear that Stroud is a very marginal political seat for the next general election, and that our former MP, David Drew, has been chosen to stand again by his party. I hope to meet him in the next few days to discuss some of these issues. He regularly attends our council meetings and lets us know about issues that are arising. I don't remember our current MP ever attending.

At lunchtime, I had a quick job to help a new client with her new MacBook Air, and I think I was able to help and advise her. When I got home there was a package of some computer memory, or RAM, which I'd ordered and will fit for a friend of Helena's. I must now do some housework on my own computer files, as well as the paper ones that litter my office. Practice what I preach.

Helena got home soon after me and made herself a cup of soup in her special hand-made pottery mug which she was given as a present. I thought it had colourful blip potential, so I took some pictures of it on the dining table. But in the gloomy light my eyes wandered towards the window, as I noticed these flowers on our two completely different pelargoniums - the big, common, blousey red-petalled ones and the tiny flowers of my P. Ardens, which I blipped a few weeks ago.

Its first spray of flowers have nearly all lost their petals. Helena thought that this was a better pictur,e as she (and I) particularly liked the tiny pink stamens of the Ardens, which you can see highlighted against the background of the white wall. Try it large if you can be bothered.
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