Jude Smith

One of my better purchases of recent months has been a Roberts idream, all singing all dancing DAB ipod radio alarm thing.. For £35 it mean I can wake up to a selection of good music, a podcast or the radio (or a buzzer but thats just mean). So this morning I had some music for a while, then flicked over to Radio 5 Live. The discussion was about the naming of Baby 'P's' parents. The discussion went to the idea that they may be protected when released from prison. People were phoning in to say alll kinds of stuff: then a lady makes a comment about 'people on benefits who choose to have children'. Blue touch paper lit- 1- there is an assumption there that it is somehow better to abort than to try and bring up kids 2- there is an assumption that poor people are irresponsible 3- its really easy for people to slag off these folk now. What they did was very very wrong. It was very messed up and horrible. But critics: where were you when this was happening. Its ea

.. I was chatting with someone today and they told a story about a group of nuns. They were given a piece of land in Egypt, upon which they were to build their convent. Like much of the country this piece of land was effectively desert. But the group of nuns, took up shovels and dug their way to the Nile. They insured that the land could be irrigated, the convent built. She likened their story to that of the pioneer: that we pitch up on barren land to build a community of prayer and of hospitality and all that, but that it starts with a pioneer who will take up a shovel and dig through the desert until they get to the Nile. Bring on the spade!

Days off in this job are somehow sacred. There is something about only officially having one day off a week that makes that day special. Sometimes I feel the pressure to do something 'special' with it. Not today: today I just enjoyed. After a lie in I got up and had a good healthy breakfast. Headed to the gym: watched the blimp over Headingley, but by the time I got to the gym a wicket had gone, I then saw 4 more go before I left. (Maybe thats how we should measure exercise?) Drove back and spent much of the afternoon starting what feels like a mammoth gardening clear up. The front looks a bit better now and tomorrow's job is to get the back ready for the three big jobs that mum and dad will help with next week. I am toying with the idea of having a bonfire, but really don't want to annoy the neighbours. I also made twice baked potato. I have no idea what they will be like when unfrozen but they are getting rid of some of the many spuds I have just now. And now