Putting the world to rights.

Clever Bird is spending too much time mulling things over that she can do nothing about - Hormonal Hannah's influence! Here's a few thoughts for your own mulling, as she prefers group mulls - a problem shared and all that.....

Brexit
For various reasons, Baggy tries to avoid discussing politics, but sometimes it's impossible to not think about it constantly! So, stating the obvious: the people were given a decision to make - stay in the European Union or leave. A referendum was had, the people voted that Britain leave - only just, but there it was, the 'leaves' had it. Now Baggy cares not how everyone voted, it is their decision, that's the point of a democratic vote. Admittedly, how anyone could make a rational decision with so little information, and so much misinformation is anybody's guess, but there you go - the government were stupid enough to ask, and they got their answer - leave. No discussion beforehand about how nigh-on impossible to achieve this would be in reality. No plan on how to actually achieve it. Result - total chaos.

So what is the next step? Good question. No one knows. So now there is a demand either to a) totally ignore the vote and not leave or b) vote again. Now Clever Bird can't help but wonder what exactly this will achieve. Clearly a referendum is 100% meaningless and has no legal standing whatsoever, unless the powers-that-be think that they know the outcome - 'of course we'll let the people decide, because they're going to agree that we stay in the Union.'

Well that worked well didn't it Baggees? The leavers remained silent until they got to the voting booth. And now? 'Of course we'll let the people have another vote, they realise that it's too complicated to leave, so they'll vote to stay. Look how many people are marching to revoke Article 50. It will be fine, then we can stay as we intended all along.' Because that worked so well last time......

Dying insects
Furry Mama is horrified that it's not just bees who are in danger of disappearing, it's all insects - as that would basically result in the end of all living creatures, this is just a little bit serious. As humans are a living creature (well so Baggy has been told, although she sometimes wonders), some of them are worried about this. Their solution: invent a tiny drone who can take over the duty of pollination from the bees. Great! Typical powers-that-be. Heaven forbid that they actually have a proper rethink about why the bees and insects are dying. Nope - spend millions/billions inventing and producing robot bees.

Clever Bird would just like to ask why instead, they could not spend that money subsidising organic food? Make it the same price as the 'wonky' food in the supermarkets so that most people buy it - thereby increasing demand and gradually reducing the production price naturally, and getting rid of the pesticides that kill the insects in the process....

Plastics
As Furry Mama walks the pooch on the beaches, she is more and more horrified by the number of bits of plastic she finds. Creative Clara does her best to reuse plastic boxes. Freda Fretter does her best to buy things in glass bottles. The local beach provides bags for people to use to pick up this rubbish as they walk, that they can then tie up and throw away in the bin - so it can go into landfill! Great idea, but Clever Bird can't help thinking that maybe the bags that they provide for collection should not be made from plastic, and be tied-up with plastic-covered wire ties.

Maybe provide re-usable wicker baskets for people to do the collecting? Or strong paper carrier bags? Better yet, let's go back to glass, reusable bottles that you get paid to return; metal boxes with paper lids for takeaways; paper bags for unwrapped (which should be all of the) fruit and veg in the supermarkets; and ban the plastic carrier bag forever - bags for life should be made from hessian, hemp, cotton, whatever - not plastic! Non-lifers should be made from paper! You get the gist Baggees. These things can be done.....

In the real world where Baggy can be vaguely in control of her own destiny, Furry Mama took the pooch to see the vet this morning. He is now on steroids for a while, to see whether his leg-chewing is caused by allergies - if they fail, x-rays are the next step, which will be decided in two weeks time. And like buses, nothing for an age, then two blogs arrive at once.........

Life carries on.

Right-ho Baggees, hope you're all doing well? Apologies that Baggy's absence was rather longer than she'd intended, but she's back. Well she's always been here of course - she did not temporarily vanish into thin air, although actually Clever Bird sometimes thinks that that would be an ability worth having! Nope, she and the gang have been getting on with life, just not in virtual-Baggy land. Truthfully, it has been a rather stressful month; not so much for Baggy, but for number one furry. In trying to stay strong for him, Baggy pushed Hormonal Hannah into a constantly anxious state. Freda Fretter did not want Calum worrying about her, in addition to everything else, so she bottled her anxiety up. Naturally, this made Hannah more anxious, then cranky, then upset and over sensitive, making the situation worse! Instead of being a reassuring, calm, positive support to her husband, Baggy became more of a liability. Let's just say that communication lines were disrupted, resulting in a few extra, tears, tensions and cross words.

Truthfully, Baggy is lucky; and Calum, despite running on empty at present, is still forgiving of Hormonal Hannah's histrionics. Grotty Groom however isn't! Once again it has been she who has been booted out of the gang, and her poor horses have not seen her. Until today that is, for the first time in a couple of weeks. And in spite of lovely Pauline, the yard manager, grooming small Shetland ponies out of both Boys just a few days ago, Grotty groomed a further horse-worth of  hair out of Wesley today and a small cat out of Joey.

Furry Mama has had her hands full with Pepper Pooch who seems to have something wrong with one of his front legs. A week's worth of steroid cream does not seem to have resolved the issue of him biting through his skin at his ankle joint. Tomorrow Furry Mama will be at the vets' at 9.00am. Freda Fretter is praying that the pooch will not need x-rays.

Baggy herself has started seeing a physiotherapist about her neck and pelvis, both of which are apparently arthritic. Trying to get Hannah not to make her forget to do her exercises is proving difficult, so Clever Bird is going to be setting her phone alarm to go off three times a day, to try to remind her.

Gloria Gardener has been working wonders, as amazingly has The Domestic Goddess; well okay Baggees, yes you know her too well, perhaps wonders are an exaggeration in The Goddess's case, but she's done her best to get the house in order for Calum, and for Baggy's sister Debby, who's been staying for the last few days. So Baggy has had a wonderful time eating too much, walking the dogs and catching up with her sis.

Creative Clara has been extremely busy! She might not have been blogging, but her shop has been ticking over nicely, and she has written a further fifteen thousand words of her novel.

So in spite of an excessive level of stressful things happening, Baggy is good, and determined to get Hannah back under control, in order that the gang can live life to the full.....

Note to readers: For the avoidance of any doubt, every character in this blog is Baggy! No Baggy was harmed in its writing, although some of them get pretty confused!

Depression: Manageable.
Anxiety: Ghastly.
Tears: Lots.
Smiles: Lots.