Rodmell and Southease

ICE CREAM: Well, the power of the press works fast. Within a short time of the Sussex Express being delivered I had two ladies phone me about where to buy coffee ice-cream and a lovely lady named Sue actually came out to see me and presented me with a tub. She wouldn't let me pay for it as she said she and her daughter both followed the column weekly and so enjoyed it. Sue, do pop by again some time as I'd love to know if the information I gave you was helpful on another matter. If, like me, you love coffee ice-cream, it can be purchased at Falmer shop, Rushfields Garden Centre and the store at St Pancras Road, Lewes.

LIGHT BULBS: Also, many thanks to reader Jill Goulder of Lewes who picked up my moan about light bulbs not lasting long and sent me a leaflet on LED lighting, a beginner’s guide (2016). I shall have to investigate as we seem to get through so many light bulbs, they only seem to last a few months.

TRAFFIC LIGHTS: Thank goodness they are thinking about traffic lights at Exceat Bridge. People have been fed up with the traffic problems caused by it for years.

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MAPS: A new Lewes Place Maps 2016 is now available and is much improved this year. Available from the Tourist Information Office and very handy to give to your visitors.

RABBITS: I don’t see many rabbits around here at the moment, so I wonder if we have foxes or birds of prey around. Strangely we never seem to get bothered by rabbits and there are no rabbit holes around. For all the years I’ve lived here I’ve only ever seen the occasional bunny and mainly when we had goats and they were in the goat paddocks. We did lose the occasional pet rabbit with that awful disease myxomatosis even though we had them injected against it, so there must have been infected rabbits in the area to spread it. I do however see many rabbits on the grass verges around the countryside. Rabbits were eaten a lot by the English at one time, especially during the war when it was cheap, free meat and other meat was rationed. I have often had people say to me, ‘your father kept us going through the war,’ as he used to give away the game he shot to those who needed it. When he was stationed in Norfolk he would send rabbits and hares through the post, wrapped in vinegar and brown paper (to stop the flies) and the postman would arrive on his bike with them hanging from the handlebars. Can’t imagine such things happening these days. They would arrive the next day too.

SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST: When we talk about survival of the fittest do we realise the truth behind it? I found this article of scientific evidence recently: 1.9 million years ago Homo erectus, the most successful human species in terms of longevity, evolves. The species flourished until dying out about 150,000 years ago. 400,000 years ago early Neanderthals emerge. Interbreeding with Homo sapiens eventually takes place but they are most likely to have been forced into extinction about 40,000 years ago. 200,000 year ago Homo sapiens, our species, evolve in Africa. At the time there are several other human species still alive. 50,000 years ago the primitive Homo floresiensis is wiped out. Where do Adam and Eve fit in?

ARE MACHINES TAKING OVER?: A friend of a friend recently went up to London from Hassocks station. Being an OAP she found she was confused about getting her ticket from the machine so thought she’d pay on the train. She was told she couldn’t and had to pay the other end. She had to pay £72 because she had not purchased a ticket at Hassocks. We need people not machines. Face to face contact and communication is important to the human race. It’s depressing for many to see people only talking via their mobiles and people are losing their jobs to machines. I and my friends all tell people in the banks, who try to get us to use cash machines and online banking, ‘are you trying to talk yourself out of a job?’ We love human contact.

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SEEDLING SALE: Tomorrow, Saturday, seedling sale/swap starting at 10am in the village hall.

WI: On Tuesday, Rodmell and Southease WI has a members meeting.

COFFEE MORNING: On Tuesday, May 31, there is a coffee morning in the village hall from 11am. All welcome.

OPEN GARDENS: Rodmell Open Gardens will be on Sunday June 12.

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BANK HOLIDAYS: Why do things always go wrong on Bank Holidays? I had a Dutch family with two children staying on the Friday night (April 29). On the morning of Saturday April 30 I noticed water coming through the ceiling down the door frame, making the new carpet wet and taking the wallpaper off the wall. The family had departed, taking my key with them and I had no idea how to get hold of them. I couldn’t get an emergency plumber and my gardener, who usually helps me out, was at a family wedding. I phoned a builder who we use, but he couldn’t do anything until Tuesday May 3. Fortunately it appears to be the seal around the shower tray, so no shower in use, fires on all day and night to dry things out and having put pressure on the wallpaper I find it’s re-stuck to the wall and seems okay. It would happen just as the B&B season is taking off and people are desperate for accommodation, plus I’d had the B&B section of the house re-decorated in the winter and new carpet laid. It seems it never rains but it pours.

THE VILLAGE: I get a lot of remarks made by the visitors who stay here about the village. They fall in love with it and the surrounding area, but I’m not sure the village will appreciate the comments made about the very large new house being built. It seems to have gained the name Rodmell’s Amex as it can be seen from afar, so I’m told by walkers.

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