Curious.....

The people who live close by are a constant source of entertainment and some of them have some very curious habits.
In summer, you could just be entertained by the live soap opera playing around me.
One of my neighbours has for some reason got bin bags full of cans in their yard.  I can only guess that they are saving them up and will eventually take them to Morecambe Metals to weigh them in, and benefit from them a second time.  I might be wrong, they could just be very eccentric.  This same neighbour also had a room packed full of toilet rolls at one point.  If you looked up at the window all you could see was toilet rolls.  All sorts of reasons went through my mind as to why the room was packed with toilet rolls.  One being, it wasn't packed, just lined and it was the equivalent of a padded cell.  Another, they were expecting a diarrhoea epidemic and they were stockpiling against the inevitable shortage that would ensue.  I'm surer if I thought hard I could come up with other reasons to have a room packed with toilet rolls. 
Another incident that was semi entertaining was around Xmas.  Someone rang my front doorbell, so I answered it only to be asked what I wanted.  The person who had rung the bell was very drunk, and I asked what he wanted, and he told me I was in the wrong house.  He then staggered back onto the footpath, and then, for some unknown reason decided to climb up the scaffolding that was up against my neighbour's house.  This man was having trouble standing up straight on solid ground, and he decided to climb scaffolding?  (It was in the process of being taken down and had no guard rails on it.)  I told him not to, he just swore at me, so I closed the curtains so I couldn't see him, and rang the police.  I don't know if they came or not, but I reported it just in case he fell off.

The toilet roll mystery has been cleared up, partially.  The person used to work in a toilet paper factory...but.....I still don't see why two people needed so much toilet paper.  Perhaps they paid him in part with toilet paper?

Another thing puzzles me, why some of the neighbours insist on trying to do a three point turn between parked cars, when if they reversed a short way they could just reverse round. In fact it looked like two cars were having a "who can do a three point turn in the smallest space" contest the other night.

Ill and lack of sleep

I'm not in a very good mood today.
I've been cooking up a cold this past week, so much so that it made me have an asthma attack on Friday, so I spent most of Friday and yesterday in bed resting/sleeping.
Last night I was so tired I went to bed early. My youngest had gone out to a party. As luck would have it, it was being held in the flat where my daughter's bf lives. She and Becki brought him home, they rang me just as I'd managed to get to sleep..for around 30 mins.
So then I spent a very fitful night worrying about him and the neighbours....different ones from usual ...had a party that seemed to go on all night. Every so often a noisy bunch would erupt into their front yard, arguing, or just talking very loudly. The Police came to sort something out at 5am-ish, and took one person away in their van. So I had a lousy night, hardly slept, my temperature is all over the place. So, I'm a little bit grumpy at the moment, plus when I was just doing the ironing, Spark walked straight across me, I nearly fell over him, and he nearly knocked my ironing board with the iron on it over.
If I ate chocolate, I'm sure indulging would make me feel better.

Racism , and does it really happen in schools?

Before I start to discuss this topic, this is the article that sparked it off.
In today's UK there seem to be many immigrants, however throughout the centuries there have always been immigrants. After all what were the Romans, Saxons, and various other races who have in the past invaded the UK. I'm not saying that the current ones are invading, the new EU laws allow free passage between EU countries, and around a year ago I remember seeing a comedian doing a "stand-up" about just this subject. Apparently more UK residents leave than we have immigrants. Indeed, of my Mum's family of seven siblings 3 of them live abroad, my sister's in-laws have lived in Spain for several years.
Anyway, my objection to this "surveys findings" is as follows. Yes, I agree that children under 11 may not know the meaning of the racial comments they jeer at classmates, however, they must have heard the terms used somewhere, and 9 times out of 10 they have heard elders they mix with using the terms. These elders DO know what the terms mean, and unfortunately the names do hurt the recipients. I know as I have been on the receiving end of misplaced racial comments throughout my life. I have a sallow skin that takes a tan really easily, and every now and again I will hear someone refer to me with a racial slur, they don't know that I was born in Derbyshire, or have British parents, and I know they are wrong in their slur, but even now they still hurt.
I have also heard neighbours dismiss the eastern Europeans who live in our little street with racial slurs. These slurs are incorrect as they pertain to the country of origin of the hardworking eastern Europeans. Another complaint is that they don't speak English, well, having got to know more than one of them, I have found out there is a very good reason for this. They work for a shipping company, who thoughtfully have provided translators for them. The upshot of this being that as they tend to drive most of the time they are working they have very little opportunity to learn English. The one's I have become friends with can speak their own language, Russian, German and a smattering of English, so who are we to belittle them, when the majority of English people can only speak English, and we also have a high level of adult illiteracy in the UK. Most Eastern European immigrants are here for a better quality of life, and are usually well educated.

I may have told you about these before.

Yes, it's getting silly season again here.
Early this morning I was just dozing back off to sleep, when I heard thuds, and a car alarm. That went on for a few minutes, so I looked out of the window. In the middle of the street was one of my neighbours, sat on someone, face down. He then began to repeatedly smash the person he was sat upon's face into the road, he then twisted the person's arm at a very strange angle and bashed his face onto the road some more. He was shouting abuse at the person he was sat on, and a third person was just stood there calming smoking a cigarette. I won't try to repeat the words, but I decided I should call the police. I picked up the phone in my room, only to hear my daughter's voice talking to the Police dispatcher/ receptionist....you know what I mean....so I put the handset back down. Samantha had fallen asleep in the living room watching TV, and the disturbance had woken her. Within minutes two Police vans arrived. But the most worrying thing for me is, in the meantime the fight had stopped and all three had gone into the same house. [Yes, it IS the house where the people who always seem to be causing a disturbance live.]
Can't say anymore, except I hope this isn't the start of things again, as last summer there seemed to be something almost every weekend, and it was only Saturday last night, so there's time for them to have another go tonight.

I really do hope not, as it took me three hours to get back to sleep after that.

It's NOT the weekend.

Well, last night I was rudely woken at around 1am. Sound of someone beating on something, then a load of verbal abuse shouted, and fighting ensued.
As the noise had woken me up I looked out of the window to see what was going on. There was a woman screeching at this man, and aiming drunken punches at him. A lot of fighting was going on, I rang the police. after I had called the police, one man was held by one or two men and kicked, just like they show on TV and in films. I wouldn't have believed people could be so vicious if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. The police came, eventually, but it took ages for me to get back to sleep. The whole incident shook me.
I've had a call tonight from the police, it is going to court, as there were three lots of damage caused.
I don't have to watch TV for entertainment, when it regularly happens just outside. Only difference is, real life is scary when it's as close as this gets.
Oh! And why the title I have given this post? Because it is normally Friday, Saturday or Sunday when things kick off like this.

Yet another Saturday night!

well, it was in the early-ish hours of Sunday morning really.
Yes! you guessed it, the neighbours couldn't let the weekend pass without some kind of entertainment.
Just before 5am a voice was shouting "move your [swearword] car!" Then there was the sound of a car being moved, and another voice yelling "don't you ever [swearword] touch my car again!" more shouting ensued. this went on for a short while, then the owner of the first voice drove off. Only to return shortly afterwards, and thump the door of the house almost! Nope! not mine, the one he lives at. But the door wasn't opened, so he kept thumping, and yelling. Just before 6am I got fed up with it all, so rang the police about the "disturbance". They said they would send someone, I don't know if they did, as I eventually managed to get back to sleep.
Who said cul-de-sacs are quiet?

Parking, easy?

Parking, it's one of the most difficult things to do when you are learning to drive, ain't it?
And it can be a pain. And if you live in a house with a garage and drive way, and only ever park on supermarket car parks, you might never have to parallel park ever again.
http://www.howto.tv/show/how_to_reverse_park
Except, I don't think Eastern Europeans have to learn to parallel park in the same way as we do, or do they? Perhaps they haven't got driving licences, in which case that is a very scary thought, as they are driving HGVs here. Anyway, we have some live up our very short street. And guess how they think the correct way to reverse/parallel park is? You reverse into the space, and stop when you car touches the one behind, then go forwards, until you touch the car in front, etc until your car is in the space that is only 2 foot bigger than your car, if that. My friend's husband wasn't very happy, as his car was one of the ones being bumped. Perhaps they think that is what bumpers are for? At least the one trying to park while I've been writing this decided that the space was too small, and went for a larger one, trouble is, there's a much larger car missing from the street, so it'll be amusing to watch the bigger one get in the space, or perhaps they'll just abandon it blocking another car in, after all, this is a "quiet cul-de-sac"!

Last couple of days

Right, I noticed how I'd phrased the quilt thing on my last post. It looked like I was going to unpick the whole thing. I was intending unpicking a couple of seams on the last block I had finished, but when I measured it, it was the right size. What I meant was, I am going to make another quilt, same style, different colours.
I finished the statement and e-mailed it to the solicitor, it was like writing an essay for university. (My printer ran out of ink.)
Also, yesterday, I got a swim in, and collected my GCSE result. I'd done Textiles as professional development, I got a A, so am happy about that. (I did put a lot of work into it.)
My youngest is happy, his gf came back from her grandma's.
Last night/early this morning one set of the neighbours surpassed themselves, there was a whole load of noise, shouting, etc. Then a police van came up the street, and a policeman ran up after it. The youngish lass that lives there walked up. The police went, and shortly after more shouting, and questions being yelled at the tops of their voices. I was just considering ringing for the police, when it went quiet. Then the "husband" came out, and drove away. His van woke me when it returned this morning, but usually he's to and fro all day, and there's been no sign. He's self-employed.

Have also been making home-made soup today, as my neighbour is ill, and I know he's been off his food. I made sure there was enough for him as well. Well, the recipe asked for 1/2 tin of tomatoes. What do you do with the other 1/2? Answers on a sealed down envelope or postcard to..........
No, I won't, it's just another of those great mysteries like the ones I asked the other day.

This week so far.

Not been a terribly eventful week so far this week.
Have swum, made four quilt panels, done housework, been a nice walk with my youngest.
That's about it.
I have arranged to see a solictor..to explore if I have grounds for a compensation claim.
More on that later.
The new neighbours across the street have pulled the kitchenm out, and are putting a new one in......Must be a pain when you are actually in the house having that done.
Mind you..when they first moved in....I think they lived off chinese takeaways...from our handy Chinese, at the end of the street.
One lot of the Eastern European neighbours is STILL away..and the ones I'm not too keen on have now brought a boat up the street. At one point they inflated a bouncy slide thing to clean it..it was huge..and the generator droned for such a long time. Let's hope they aren't going to try to flood the street to test the boat. (They are very strange.)

Saturday, again.

Well, didn't get up until almost noon, then I found out I had a migraine. (yuck.)
So, today has been a lazy day, again. I slept on and off until 4pm, the migraine had lessened a fair bit by then.
The noisy neighbours came back from wherever they went away to. These people are unable to have a conversation in normal tones outside their house. They are always on full volume, two weeks back, one of the household had come outside to talk on their mobile phone. If the person they were speaking to was in the town...they wouldn't have needed a mobile. (So loud, and this was about 11pm at night!)
All is quiet here, daughter out in Blackpool, and boys at their Dad's...just me and the dogs. Think I might have an early night.
Have almost finished my book...it has been hard work reading this one, have never rerad a book that I need to prop on something to read before