Spring is sprung...

Spring is sprung,
Der grass is riz,
I wonder where dem boidies is?
Der little boids is on der wing,
Ain't dat absoid?
Der little wings is on der boid!

My mother, an otherwise sophisticated person, used to recite that, but perhaps she was bringing herself down to my level.

Anyway, this piece comes after a very pleasant and spring-like period, which will doubtless end abruptly now I've drawn attention to it.

However, come rain or shine, there will be a musical theatrical production of 'Lark Rise' in a month's time, at St George's Church, which we hope all Arretonians will put in their diaries. All the details are on the main website, here. The same notice is also on the Ventnor Blog, here, which is always worth a look.

Appeal by Phil Smith

In May 2009 Phil Smith and Steve Olding are riding their motorbikes around Britain to raise money for the Earl Mountbatten Hospice & the IoW Motor Neurone Disease Association.

In May 2008 Bessie, my wife of 21 years, was diagnosed with MND. This was a huge shock as Bessie was only 49 at the time.

Bessie was a nurse for over 20 years, mostly caring for the elderly, working for the National Blood Service IoW Team, and Laidlaw Day Hospital. MND usually causes weakness in their limbs, but most people retain their faculties with a few experiencing some personality change. Bessie has yet to experience much physical deterioration beyond a near total loss of speech and extreme difficulty eating and swallowing, but her personality change is very marked. A once highly intelligent and outgoing person is now reduced to a child-like being with little or no desire to do much more than watch “Scooby-Doo” cartoons on TV.

Bessie no longer works, needing almost constant care, but I still work full time as we have one 15-year old son at school and a 19-year old full time student living at home. We manage between us (I have a very understanding employer) but without the help of the Hospice I would have to give up work to care for Bessie, putting the family in a very difficult situation.

In return for their help I want to raise some funds for both the Hospice and the IoW Branch of the Motor Neurone Disease Association (Registered Charity no. 294354). I am undertaking a sponsored motorcycle tour of England and Scotland in May this year accompanied by an old school friend Steve Olding. We will be riding some 1400 miles, visiting locations associated with the life and career of Lord Louis Mountbatten.

We will be meeting all our travel and accommodation costs ourselves, except ferry crossings generously supplied free by Red Funnel, and all monies raised will go to the Hospice and the IoW MND Association. This might not seem much a challenge but despite both riding bikes since the early 1970s, neither of us has ridden such distances for a long while, e.g. being wrong side of 50 may question our endurance.

Please sponsor us today. It is simple and easy at our Just Giving fundraising page www.justgiving.com/mountbattenmnd

Frosty

After the recent deluge, I thought it would be nice to record the Christmas/New Year period, when it was cold and dry, reminding me of the 'proper' winter weather that seemed more common a generation ago.

More pictures on the Arreton Flickr site - click here to view.