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Post by Bean on May 1, 2022 8:26:24 GMT
Welcome to May everyone! It's the May Day bank holiday weekend here, so many people will be enjoying a bonus day off school/ work tomorrow. I still have fond memories of dancing round the maypole at school (we just had a single one, this looks awesome!).
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Post by bazookagoof on May 1, 2022 19:27:05 GMT
We used to go to the Bristol Renaissance Faire in the summer, and my daughter would always join the ladies around the maypole they would have there. The Faire's pole was not as nearly as large as that one in the pic, though.
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Post by 3piggles on May 2, 2022 14:49:32 GMT
We used to do this when I was in elementary school, back when holidays were celebrated on the actual day. It was a simple pole, and all the kids got to participate. We didn't do anything like that. Wow! I wish some of those old traditions were still around, just to break the flow of digitalized everything. We still have Easter egg hunts, so why not May poles
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Post by bazookagoof on May 3, 2022 23:59:53 GMT
I'm a bit surprised at how cold it's been lately. We've had very few sunny days recently, and we still have the heat turned on and it's already May!
I think we've had two days so far where the temps got into the high 70's, and that's it. I do hope the rest of the year won't be like this.
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Post by Bean on May 4, 2022 6:53:14 GMT
At the start of April, there was talk of a heatwave at the end of the month, but that certainly didn't materialise! We've had some nice days, but it is still quite cool. And rainy today, but at least that saves me watering the grass seed.
Apparently some primary schools still have maypoles over here. I should have thought to put that in my prerequisites when we were looking for a primary school all those years ago!
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Post by 3piggles on May 4, 2022 12:45:57 GMT
We had it in primary school, too, just as every Armistice Day someone was chosen to read "In Flanders Fields", and we'd all get paper poppies. Now we call it Veteran's Day, and put flowers on veterans graves, but that's about it. In Brownies/Girl Scouts we even learned how to make the paper poppies. Not done or taught any longer I realize we've had many wars since then, and all veterans deserve to be honored equally. I just wish there were some version of reading the poem and getting the poppies that applied to all veterans of all wars, and was still done on that day to teach children to honor those who paid for our freedom with their lives. It's just another Monday off, not even the actual day of celebration as all days of celebration except Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas have been put on the Monday closest to the actual day, so everyone got a long weekend. Now, people just take the long weekend off, and don't celebrate the reason for the day
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Post by Bean on May 5, 2022 7:24:33 GMT
We're still cranking out Flanders Fields and making poppies/ poppy prints in primary schools here. They do the two minute's silence in schools too. I'm not sure it resonates in the same way it used to, but the traditions are still followed.
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Post by 3piggles on May 5, 2022 20:45:31 GMT
I think it can resonate as it used to. For most of the current batch of primary school children, they great grandparents fought in WWII. They may not even know their great grandparents. My granddaughter never met my parents, and I think my SiL's parents are enough younger than my parents were, they didn't fight in WWII. Give the students an assignment to find things about their own or other people's relatives who did fight in WWII. Have them watch a documentary about the war. Show them pictures of the rows of graves in Flander's Fields, and explain what/where Flanders is so it makes some sense to them. Even show them pictures of war damage in England, so they understand how close to home the war was, and the cost to the population and the economy. It's a lesson that shouldn't be forgotten, or be allowed to become such old, out-of-touch history that no one cares anymore. There were also some good things about the war, and there were definitely some local things in the UK no matter where it was. Manor homes used as hospitals, things like that, so the students can relate to the fact this war happened where they live, not somewhere else. Since all of our holidays became Mondays to make three day weekends, no one celebrates them as anything except sales weekends. All retailers from restaurants to car dealers have sales on the holiday weekends. It's a big money shopping time, not a remembrance of much of anything We do still have veteran's cemeteries where wreaths are laid on the Armistice and Memorial days, but from the several hundred people who turned out when I was a kid, it's down to maybe 20 turning out, now
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Post by Bean on May 6, 2022 6:36:04 GMT
I think they do still do a lot of those things in many schools, and they do immersive things like dressing as people would have dressed and eating what they might have eaten - I think those kinds of experiences are often what really engage kids. There's a war museum in our county that's popular for school trips, they really bring it to life with a series of huts (and some streets) each made up to represent a different time or situation. I can't have been more than about 10 when I went but I still remember the impact it had on me.
It's certainly is a shame when memorial days are just used as sales opportunities, but what isn't exploited for profit these days?
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Post by 3piggles on May 6, 2022 18:31:10 GMT
I've seen pics of British kids dressed for different historic days at school, and I think it's a great idea. We never dressed for of lived the parts, but at least we went out of our way to remember the reason for the holiday. As I said, all of that seemed to stop when the hols got put on the most convenient Monday, and no longer had a day that mattered.
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Post by Bean on May 7, 2022 7:11:16 GMT
I think as long as we spend time reflecting on the things and people that we think are important and deserve our thanks, that's the main thing. What's important to other people isn't something we can do much about.
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Post by 3piggles on May 7, 2022 21:42:41 GMT
Armistice Day is about WWII. I think it was changed to Veteran's Day over here, because we kept having wars, and all of those veterans needed to be counted, too. Either the Korean or Vietnam wars was considered a police action, not a war, and the veterans had to fight for their right to be buried in the cemeteries, be members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) organization, and to get the same veteran's benefits as the other veterans. They won, but it pointed out how important it is to veterans to be part of the veteran's official and unofficial benefits. The VFW is a place to be with other veterans. Doesn't matter which war, they all experienced the same things, and they all need to not only talk about it, but just be in the company of people who understand.
Since Armistice Day became Veteran's Day, and only Armistice Day had poppies, it follows that we no longer do the poppies. I wish we'd replaced the poppies with something that represented all/any wars, just so the school kids got a yearly reminder that people fought and died in these wars.
Memorial Day is May 30 this year. It's a day to remember all who died in wars. Veterans' Day includes the living.
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Post by bazookagoof on May 9, 2022 0:06:56 GMT
Happy Mother's Day, everyone!
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Post by Bean on May 9, 2022 7:34:24 GMT
I'll second that, Happy Mothers' Day!
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Post by 3piggles on May 9, 2022 18:17:19 GMT
I'll third it, and thank you
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Post by bazookagoof on May 18, 2022 0:57:16 GMT
I keep wanting to see if I can get the guys out for grazing, but it's either blazingly hot, or when it cools down it starts to rain. Still, the grass looks nice and green, so when it eventually happens I imagine the guys will have a feast.
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Post by Bean on May 18, 2022 6:03:38 GMT
I've just been cutting some grass to take into them this week. We've had some good weather, but there's either been too much of a wind for the pigs, or we've had heavy rainfall overnight and the ground's been damp for them (especially as I'm doing 'No Mow May' and the long grass keeps a lot of moisture). Great weather for plants though!
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Post by 3piggles on May 18, 2022 17:44:43 GMT
I bought one of those tools you step on the bottom rung and it pushes the cutting blades into the ground. Twist it and pull it out, and it pulls out the weed. Vic was using it to pull dandelions, and also pulled up some of the grass clumps for the girls. I wash them off really well, then put the whole thing in the cage, root ball and all. I collect the root ball when the girls have finished. They're loving it, and it lets us use the grass that growing where we don't want it, instead of tossing it. I hope you get in some good grazing, Baz. The place I had the run set up didn't make it through the winter, and has been tilled for reseeding, so I'll have to find another place for it. It's not very big, so it will go pretty much anywhere. The other small furries love to visit the girls while they're out in the run We had a male Rose Breasted Grossbeak land on the railing to the back deck, while the slider was open, and talk to us through the screen for about 10 minutes. I talked to him and he answered. Vic was trying to get a picture, but we never got a really good one. I'll see if I can post one of the pics I did get. The squirrels, chipmunks and little red squirrels come up on the porch to visit, too. They don't do any damage, just kind of look in to see what we're doing, then mosy off
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Post by bazookagoof on May 19, 2022 21:43:26 GMT
The weather's getting to unusual temps lately- last night it dropped to the 50's and we actually turned the heat back on! However, today the temps got into the 80's, so now the heat is off and the windows are open. Maybe if it can get into the 60s-70's (and stay there for just a little bit) I can try to get the guys out.
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Post by 3piggles on May 20, 2022 12:27:17 GMT
Temps in the 50s yesterday, rainy and raw. We have the heat off, and the a/c on, which means it's doing nothing, but we did have our electric throw blankets on yesterday. Sat on the couch with my blanket Highs in the upper 70s/lower 80s today, then the temps soar to mid 90s for Saturday and Sunday. Then back to the 60s and 70s for most of next week. The nights have all been in the 50s, and even with the 90s over the weekend, overnight temps are staying in the 50s. It is bouncing all over the place. The meteorologist was saying the humidity is moving in. The weekend is going to be hazy, hot and humid, so basically unbearable. Then relief on Monday. If we're lucky, next week will have reasonably stable temps. The same Rose Breasted Grossbeak that had the conversation with us landed on hubby's shoulder while hubby was putting out the feeders this morning Hub was wearing his red raincoat, so I think RBG mistook him for something else
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