Jill Sparrow

As the Dalai Lama says, it's not what you believe, it's what you are inside that really matters. For him, intention is everything. For instance, there are many who do charitable work but what is the intention behind it? For some, it's self-aggrandisement or born of a need to feed their own ego. In such cases, it could be argued that it doesn't count because it takes back something for what is given. I have a great respect for the eastern religions.

There's never any leftover wine in my house, nor cheese, nor vanilla yogurt, nor ice cream...and there is certainly never any leftover James Wellbeloved!

I had no idea he used to bring the tanker home! Ray was our next door neighbour's son in law. He was originally from Louth in Lincolnshire and married Kathleen Brainsby who was my mum's best friend and neighbour. Kath and Ray had two boisterous boys, Timothy and Nicholas, so were probably used to footballs flying everywhere. I think Ray was also a union rep.He started out as a market gardener in Lincolnshire. Both Kath and Ray passed on a few years ago, after retiring to Scarborough. I remember going to visit them at Clifton when I was a child.

Sounds like a cheapskate!

Laughter is the best medicine! No side effects or prescription charges!

and our politicians take advantage of this prejudice by pretending to be even more stupid than nature made them. and that's no easy feat!

I always thought it was just children who were evacuated but I recall my mum, born 1926, telling me that her parents were forced to take a woman from London and her young son. By all accounts, she was a rum one. Husband away in the army, she was out every night with some GI or other, leaving my grandmother to mind her badly behaved brat! The woman bleached her hair so often, the roots were green and, apparently, she persuaded my mum to have her tresses peroxided which resulted in grandma having a hissy fit and insisting she wore a scarf so that her father didn't see it. The woman

Those were the days, eh, Snapper? I suspect The Player school was one of many built on the quadrangle system, as was The Manning. All 1930s constructions. Very draughty in winter! Welcome to the site, Snapper. A number of our members will know the area you speak of.

The sort that administered a clip found the ear if you didn't behave!

Wot? No sell by dates?

Indeed! Makes a mockery of all this hype about 'footprints' and food miles, doesn't it?

Hmmm. Odd that, Margie. The poster states "We've been listening to what you tell us" !!

It's true. There's nothing new under the sun. In Morrison's this morning, spotted a poster encouraging people to bring their own containers when buying food to cut down on plastic, packaging, etc. It made me smile as I heard my dad's voice telling the tale of how he loved Friday nights as a child in Beeston. Carrying a basin, he trotted round to Dawes, the butchers, for faggotts* and onion gravy. Friday supper for the family! He'd also fetch jugs of cream from the dairy for his grandma. Let's go back to the old days! *faggott, in this context, refers to a h

The latter sounds like a fairly typical control freak. They tend to appear in public as Mr Wonderful whilst beating their wife to a pulp in private. I've met several women who were married to such spineless creeps. One such slimeball was a pillar of the local church where everyone thought he was marvellous! Little did they know. I would encourage any woman in that situation to get out and turn a deaf ear to threats of suicide. Such men will never change and thrive on making women's lives a misery. My grandmother, Kate Sparrow, knew how to deal with such bullies. I still have her ca

It's amazing what turns up on here!

Shhh you lot. He doesn't want anyone to know who he is. Don't you realise how hard he works to maintain his anonymity?

The 3 young girls DavidW is talking about had evidently planned what they did. Indeed, it appears to be some type of suicide pact, not a spur of the moment decision. Yet, it appears that none of them gave cause for concern to their relatives, apart from one apparent threat to end their lives. It just goes to show that you never know what is going on in someone else's head.

How strange. Although, in an age when we are told suicides among teenagers are increasing, perhaps it isn't as strange as it sounds. Teenage years are, and possibly always have been, a time when problems can be seen as being out of all proportion due to hormonal changes in the body but very sad all the same.

Well, I know which of the two I think is the case...but then I'm well known for being a cynic! As someone once observed, most of the damage done in this world is by people with a need to think well of themselves.

Great memories, Mr Meeseeks. Couple of bruises and scuffed kneecaps? Elf and Safety has put paid to that, I'll warrant! Keep posting!

Our hymn book at the Manning was the blue hardbacked Songs of Praise. It has always remained my favourite hymn book because the melodies it contained were mainly by classical composers and I loved them, It contained some obscure hymns, including this one, whose words fascinated me although I was too young to understand their meaning. Once to every man and nation, comes the moment to decide, in the strife of truth with falsehood, for the good or evil side; some great cause, God's new Messiah, offering each the bloom or blight, and the choice goes by forever,

Went into Boots this morning to collect my thyroxine. It was very busy. A clearly confused elderly chap sat on a chair, looking totally bewildered. He said he was 86 and had run out of his medications. The lady pharmacist explained that she could provide an emergency prescription but there is now a statutory charge for so doing. In his case, it would total in the region of £70 for what he needed to tide him over the weekend. She encouraged him instead to call 111 and explain his predicament but he said he had no one to collect a prescription for him even if they issued one. The pha

Surely that would be a contradiction in terms. Pride and humility are polar opposites.

That ought to get rid of politicians as we know them...and a good thing too!

I did an emotional intelligence test online. The result was 'not so good' I also did a mental age test. It says I have a mental age of 39. Is that good or bad? Either way, I don't give a toss. I'm perfectly happy