Daniel's Wedding

It was pleasant to go to this wedding last weekend. Sadly we go to funerals more frequently these days. Daniel is my cousin’s son; a cousin  who lives locally and with whom we have become more friendly in recent years. Partly this is as we have moved back to the Midlands after moving around the country and found that Margaret lived locally. Margaret joined our local Book Club for a while and she is friendly with Annette through their WI work.

Daniel, an impressively tall 6 feet 5 inches, married Anna at Appledore in Devon. We travelled down the day before and back the day after the wedding. We didn’t go to their disco on the wedding evening. Experience has told us that conversation is impossible for us both being slightly deaf.

At the reception I was very pleased to sit next to Anna’s aunt Celia. Celia has a very clear speaking voice and good diction which meant I had no problems at all in conversation. Unfortunately a long thin room with us on the end table did mean the speeches were unintelligible. This was a pity because David, Daniel’s elder brother, gave a long and amusing speech which was mostly lost on me.

In general I’m finding deafness an increasing problem. I’m OK one to one with low ambient noise but meetings are often difficult. This issue has been a major reason for giving up some activities. Coping strategies such as sitting in the middle of the group are no longer enough. Deafness also has an effect on speech. I find I make an effort to speak more loudly ( I hope I’m not becoming the local Ian Paisley ).

Appledore is a lovely place. It doesn’t have a harbour as such although many small boats are moored in the picturesque Taw estuary. We took the opportunity to briefly walk around before the ceremony.

Do you get all the news?

The Leavers press has been trumpeting economic news ever since the referendum. Every item of anti- European news has been seized upon. I wonder if they have also reported the first quarter growth figures. Eurozone growth was much faster than both the UK and the US. My authority for this information is the Financial Times. I wonder if the pro Brexit press has reported this also? Is it possible your source of news is so biased as to ignore what doesn’t suit?

I regret to say the BBC also seems to be forgetting objective news. Not so much in biased reporting but just ignoring items. A large pro European march in London on the day nearest to Article 50  declaration was simply passed over. The news editors always find space for meaningless vox pops ( I’m fed up with Brenda, her of “ not another election”, a little  amusing the first time, just silly afterwards ) I’m tempted to say the BBC is taking its cue from the May government who have simply ignored the 48% Remain vote. I think it is also reasonable to wonder how many who voted leave actually wanted the hard exit of the government. I even wonder whether the government will negotiate in good faith. Theresa May certainly is doing her best to pick fights on slight excuses.

A scenario where the UK crashes out without any kind of trade deal is the worst outcome for the UK and no amount of bluster will overcome that simple fact.

Clearly the Tory strategy for the election is to pitch as confrontational approach to Europe  as possible( gets the ex UKIP vote )