Rodmell and Southease

PROBLEMS: Having a good many problems to deal with regarding Mike's Nursing Home, I am becoming very frustrated at how difficult it is to get hold of any authorities to help me deal with the problems. Every time I ring a helpline number, a local authority or such people, I get a lot of spiel about going online which I can't do so then I have to hold onto the phone for, in some cases, an hour, which is not good when I need to get on with other things including my business. I am hearing so many people complaining about how difficult it is to get hold of any of the services/authorities if you don't have a computer or super phone and they are not all OAPs like me. So many people are saying how life is so difficult these days, and they hate it. I and a lot of my friends are so grateful that despite being born in the war, or around that era. We had happy childhoods, good manners, easy to pay bills (because they were simple to understand) and we were brought up to be decent, law-abiding people by parents who cared, despite rationing, shortage of jobs and in many cases bad housing, which they coped with admirably. Feeding and clothing your children came before having the luxuries of life and people were proud and independent. My mother, like many, did not get any allowance for me, as I was an only child and she coped.

LEWES: Seems to be thriving these days, especially it seems at the weekends. I feel many people do not realise there are plenty of parking spaces in the area of the council offices at the top of town and, at times, these are free. There are plenty of buses nearby as well to take you down into town. If people parked here, it may help alleviate parking problems in the centre of town. The prices are reasonable too.

WASPS: When I haven’t been on the phone trying to get people, I’ve been in the garden picking up fruit, which is in abundance, as are wasps at the moment. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many wasps and many people have told me they have nests in their roof or shed. We appear to have one in our flint wall.

LOCAL ROADS: I noticed today that a fairly large crack is appearing on the C7 outside Rodmell House and the old petrol kiosk. Our roads are in a bad state, and the council is trying to keep up with things, but one wonders will that ever happen. A friend of mine said a woman shot out in front of him at The Swan roundabout, which he knew, having lived in the area, but maybe this lady didn’t see it, as it’s now devoid of white paint and just looks like the road. Several in this area are the same. Obviously there are plenty of jobs to do, but where is the money to pay for them?

HUMAN NATURE: And kindness never fails to amaze me. A hiker, whom I helped out a couple of weekends ago, sent me a lovely card and a message to wish me well with my problems of the moment, plus my wonderful friends and neighbours are very supportive. Thank God for ‘the milk of human kindness’ as the saying goes.

MOTORBIKE: We had a very noisy motorbike in the area and several people have mentioned it. It may make them smile when I tell them that when I was a child, people referred to bikers who revved their engines as ‘monkeys on grid irons’. Not an expression that brings glamour to mind is it.

HIKERS: It’s wonderful to see so many healthy looking hikers doing the South Downs Way, many very young and enjoying the outdoor life. I had a young lady and her cat camping in the field recently. The cat went everywhere with her on a lead.

CAR BOOT SALE: Sunday on Rodmell Cricket Field. Sellers from 8am, buyers from 9am. Free entry. Pitches £6, refreshments available. For further information, see Rodmell Website http://www.rodmell.net/ If weather is poor, check website to see if car boot sale is going ahead.