Blimey...

... I can't quite believe I've weaned myself off blogging and Facebook. Seems when time is precious, you find you can live without both. There's plenty to rant about, but to be honest when you see what a dog's dinner of things our elected government is making of running the country, you start to see how democracy fails. And there are other things I'd like to complain about, but won't for possible legal reasons. Suffice to say it erodes your faith in our institutions.

Life is clearly not as simple as it could and maybe should be. Nothing I can do about that in the grander scheme of things (and even if I did go into politics, how long before I got squeezed and ground down by the system?), but I'm trying to enjoy life on a smaller scale, which is why I can get great joy simply walking to the local shop and drinking in the sunshine and quietness of our local area during the day. Seems I'm not the only one who enjoys the simple things - George Monbiot's latest column talks about the joys of growing your own fruit (see here). I'm jealous - my dream is of one day winning the Premium Bonds and owning enough land to have my own orchard alongside the veg plot and wind turbine. Going green? Sure, but self-sufficiency has its own selfish benefits too, as Mr Monbiot explains so succinctly. If the world is going tits up, seems you can face the forthcoming apocalypse enjoying the simpler things in life - while they still exist, of course...