Venom
Did anyone else watch George Gently on BBC1 8 pm Sunday night? Not my usual cup of tea either but Hisself and I collapsed in front of telly after a day of shearing sheep. It is a detective soap set in 1960's Britain and that episode had an ex German POW visiting the farm he stayed during the war. He got murdered and so the story unfolded.
Hisself found it a very positive story: the farmers were kind, generous people and the murderer a greenie - a park ranger or something similar. I on the other hand found the portrayal of farmer's wife stereotypical. The ugliest woman you can find in apron and cardigan dishing out hearty meals to the hungry family. I think she could have been found in a farmhouse kitchen in the 1860's but surely not in 1960's.
Where Hisself seems to find nothing wrong in the way farmers appear in media I do. Finally I figured out that the images dished out from television have no relation to his everyday communication with the wider world. However they impact mine quite dramatically.
Women, the competitive bunch we are, have a nice box for a farmer's wife with a label on it saying: kind, simple, large, old fashioned and plain. Which is generally fine by me. This autumn I will have to find a playgroup where No5 can make friends to have a social life. It means I must be friendly with several people because No5 likes their child regardless of my personal opinion. She has a right to fit among her peers, go to birthday parties and have play dates. In the process several women will try and convince me that I am uglier, stupider and more out of date than they are and should stop pretending otherwise. By the way they know what farmers wives are like, they have seen us in telly!
To make a point here is MIL [mother in law] with Hisself in early 60's. Yes, finally an image of him. He has changed somewhat but she still looks like the same despite us celebrating her 80th in August. Can't quite imagine her in apron or cardigan...
In real life I have been out with both No1 [son] and No2 [daughter]. I think I am getting too old for shepherding duties. In town to get No1's eyes tested with No5 who naturally was all over big brother. The result?? Every single shop assistant in her 20's drooling over my son. "Oh he is so good with babies!" "Isn't he handsome!". Yes, and he is just 17 and I am his mother, not a marriage consultant!
After that shock I thought we could recover with a trip to the beach. First time for couple of years No2 decided to stay in dry land and build sand castles with No5 while the rest of them went out to ride the waves. Well, if you ever want to see all breeds of dog in half an hour that is the way to do it. Males all ages parading round us with the pretence of walking their pooch. The dogless wanderers relying to frisbees, balls and kites. The young "loons" were well within the limits of fun but the hanging beer bellies with stretching tattoos aged 30 and over were beyond my sense of humor, after all No2 is just 15.
There is a real snake in this blog too. Day after the hols No2 showed us a lump sized half an apple on the side of her foot. It looked like an insect bite, though a giant one, so we just let it be. When swelling went down two little holes came visible. She had been walking along the coastline and felt a nip in her foot. It was an adder trying to get her through her shoe! That piece of coastline is famous for its snakes, No3 saw some next to the cabin earlier. Snakes was the main reason I wanted a place facing the evening sun as they often slither to cabin steps to warm in the first rays of sun. They are known to bite when stepped on...