living in the moment

 Dear Sheddists,

what a lovely day we've had.

An early morning dog-walk along the canal sees us dodge the rain successfully. We get back just in time to greet our eldest daughter and dear Dottie, our gorgeous new grand-daughter.

Dottie rolls contentedly on the floor, frustrating our repeated attempts to keep her constrained to the safe confines of her quilted mat. Meanwhile we help our daughter fill in a daunting form she's been given to complete for a new Education, Health and Care Plan.

Our youngest grandson suffers severe epilepsy and is in a wheel-chair - the EHC Plan is meant to protect his needs. However, filling in the form feels almost like a re-run of Ken Loach's recent film 'I, Daniel Blake'  in which the State seeks to deprive the most vulnerable in society through a Kafkaesque bureaucracy. If you haven't seen it in the cinema do track it down on DVD, it's a great film that has so much to say about the vital importance of effective welfare support.

A slap-up fish and chip lunch provides some much needed sustenance before we bring down a box of photos for our daughter. They've come from the home of her late grandmother and tell a family history. See if you can spot any family resemblances in the photos below!

Days like this are special, unplanned and beautiful.  They remind us to live in the moment.

Yours as ever,

electrofried(mr)

the beauty of the day - no. 5

Dear Sheddists,

yesterday, having been confined to barracks for almost two weeks by the dreaded flu, mrs electrofried and I ventured out to the cinema.  We watched, "I, Daniel Blake", a supremely moving film which sums up the love, despair and hope that exists in the twisted world of austerity where the avarice of the rich leaves deep and lasting scars on the most vulnerable in society.

So where is the beauty to be found?  In two places First, the refusal of the eponymous hero of the film to bow to a faceless bureaucracy.  Second, in seeing a very special place.  The film was shot in Newcastle-upon-Tyne and one scene showed the very place where mrs electrofried and I first held hands as gawky teenagers all those years ago.

Love conquers all.

yours as ever,

electrofried(mr)