Not so long ago I watched a program about The Carpenters, and more recently, a program about a group from the 70’s called 10 CC. I grew up with music like this, and these two groups/bands were my favourites. I enjoyed both programs immensely but it did leave me with a little tear of nostalgia for the simpler times I feel I had as a child. There were no mobile phones, no internet, and no home computers. If we wanted to see our friends outside of school time we made arrangements either in school, or by phone. We stayed away from home for hours on end, mostly playing one man cricket on the local school fields – as I recall, you had just one batter, one bowler, and everyone else was fielding. We were sociable. We had fun.

Money was tight, but we could walk a few miles to a bustling few streets of shops and window shop to our heart’s content, and if feeling really flush, have an American style ice cream from the tobacconists shop. My favourite was a waffle cone with maple and pecan ice cream. A real treat! I was young and pretty – not trying to sound full of myself, honestly – and wore pretty flowered skirts with a lace edging, embroidered cheesecloth blouses, and braids in my long hair. And shy? Oh I was so shy and naïve back then it was scary lol. Sighs…

Mind you, it wasn’t all good: We had the IRA of course, and a day in London wasn’t always the treat it was supposed to be, and there was Barry Manilow. Shudders…

We always had a dog, usually a mongrel, and my favourite was a dog of unclear pedigree called Snoopy. He was a nutter. He’d walk for miles, watch us play cricket, and half way home he’d sit down and refuse to budge and we’d end up carrying him home. He’d go absolutely crazy, in a good way, if you approached him slowly, saying ‘nom nom nom.’ I have no idea why that got him so silly, but it kept us all amused many a time. As I said, money was tight but my Mother always made sure we were always clothed well; we had good shoes, and were always well fed. Basically we were happy. My parents were divorced by then, and whilst I didn’t miss my Father one little bit, I did miss having a Father figure.

Fast forward and we have mobile phones, social media – which is good for contact like we have here I don’t deny – more TV channels than anyone can possibly watch though mostly it’s dross, online shopping, and our youth ‘plugged’ in to a computer or sitting in groups all looking at their own mobile devices. Are they happy? I wonder sometimes…

With social media comes ‘trial by media’ though we always had that in some form via newspapers I guess, online bullying, stalking, hacking, sexting, news overload…

At our recent workshop, and following some issues, I casually mentioned with a smile on my face that when I retire I’m going to become a technophobe. My colleague laughed and said ‘but you work with technology all the time.’ I replied that I’ve been doing this since 1979 and that’s why I’m going to become a technophobe. I say it with a smile on my face however I’m deadly serious.

I’m not happy but I am content and that’s a good second I guess. What would make me happy? A larger house that I didn’t keep walking into the walls of – no wonder I’m always bruised! I want a good sized garden that I can grow my own fruit and veg in, space to actually breathe, and maybe a few chickens just for the fun of it. Next year I’m going to grow more veggies again and cut down on the flowers, just a little. Growing your own food feels so liberating, and it’s an achievement, and hopefully we’ll have a better summer to do it in.

Speaking of the weather, my heart goes out to the people in hundreds of homes waking up without electricity in England and Wales – possibly Scotland too, and those in Cumbria who have borne the brunt of our latest storm. The flooding seen on the TV is horrendous and so heart-breaking to have that happen to your home. I know it’s only ‘stuff’ but people’s lives, and memories, and their hopes and dreams are all in the stuff we own and I genuinely feel for them.