Today I shall be Mainly...

[Stanley]

I sincerely hope there are not any instances of backlash against the French. None of this is their fault. It's a totally self-inflicted wound and I hope the voters remember this!
Hope the back seam turns out OK, actually I'm sure it will.......

[Stanley]

I'm doing everything I do normally but not pushing to get in the shed. Apart from anything else I can't move forward until I get a good piece of wood for the base, A trip to B&D as soon as I have time.
Considering a couple of articles for the paper......

[Sue]

Another glorious morning, so unexpected. Being Sunday we are out for lunch today.

Yesterday I had a garden fire, using our little metal incinerator being the only form of garden fire allowed. I see most of the neighbours around had a similar idea. I scraped off the twigs and undegraded matter off the huge pile on the compost heap from two years ago leaving us with several barrow fulls of beautiful compost for the veggie plot next spring. Last years compost will now be left to rot down as we find a new place for the ever growing heap of garden waste.

Today is Brionys birthday, I can’t believe she is 7 . Sadly it is also the anniversary of both our Mums deaths. My mum17 years ago, and Bobs 15. Time has passed so quickly yet this particular family death still leaves me very sad. I used to dread November 4 th until this gorgeous funny, lively little girl was born on the 10 th anniversary of Mums death. Mum would have loved her like she loved all of us but B is just so full of life, like she gained the energies of two lost Mums.

Sorry! Time to move on.

[Stanley]

I think I am lucky Sue in that for many reasons my family when I was growing weren't into anniversaries at all (There was so much to hide!). I think that it's a consequence of that which means that I never remember anniversary dates and so don't get that nudge. I think of the dead often with fondness and regret but it doesn't dominate me. We are all different aren't we.....

[Stanley]

Wendy called in yesterday and apart from delivering my book on Earby Prize Brass Band, had a request from Colin which I was able to satisfy and also brought her garden clippers for me to breathe on. I used them first to do a rough clip of the dead mint stalks in the garden, I'll tidy it today.... Then I'll make her clippers like new again, a nice little job to get me in the shed without pushing things. I love little rescue jobs like that, makes me feel useful!

[Sue]

I think I am lucky Sue in that for many reasons my family when I was growing weren't into anniversaries at all (There was so much to hide!). I think that it's a consequence of that which means that I never remember anniversary dates and so don't get that nudge. I think of the dead often with fondness and regret but it doesn't dominate me. We are all different aren't we.....

I think I am the lucky one then Stanley. I may well have forgotten the date of my Mums death if Bob s mum hadn’t died on the same date or if Briony had not been born on that day, but in remembering it I have an opportunity to reflect on her life every year and the loss we have had. Similarly I remember the date of my Dads death because he died on his birthday, also St Valentines Day, also your birthday. Other births and death dates have long since been assigned to the family tree only. But the real important ones to me will be remebered. I think my memory for events tends to work by remembering other things that happened at the time. Memory by association which apparently is the way to learn things.

[Stanley]

Point taken Sue. All I was saying was that due to peculiar circumstances my experience is different. My eldest daughter Margaret recognises this blank spot and always reminds me of birthdays!
Good start to the day, I have written an article for the paper!

[Sue]

Other memories of deaths by association, my lovely grandpa died on my grandmas birthday, Nov 2 nd, my lovely great Aunt died on my brothers birthday, February 7 th, but for her sister, my favourite great aunt who I was really close to, I have no memory association except it was after half term in October, because I had a bad chest infection and was not able to visit her in hospital.

Memory association is a strange thing, and in my case not always about births and deaths. I found mnemonics were a really useful learning tool for students and i got them to make their own up, sometimes with hilarious consequences. I was once teaching the sequence of events in a reflex arc to a GCSE group..ie stimulus, sensory neurone, association or intermediate neurone , motor neurone response. I wrote down the first letter of each word and asked them to make up a sentence they woukd all remember. One student came up with a dubious sentence about another. Everyone laughed, but I said it wasn’t appropriate. However a couple of weeks later, there was the question on the exam paper about the reflex arc. EVERYONE. Said they remembered it because they remembered the sentence they had created even though I had disapproved.

[Wendyf]

We were given a few at school as aids to memory but the one that has stuck in my mind was from geography and it was SUNWACD. Given that I'm from Yorkshire can anyone guess what list this represents?

[Wendyf]

Colin and I have a few words that we always always forget, so we practice them every now and then and test each other. Herdwick, ragwort, capers and oystercatcher .... you never know when you are going to need them. Looking at them written down I can see that we need an "e" word, then it would be a CHORE. Suggestions on a postcard please.

[Tripps]

I found nemonics were a really useful learning tool for students

Actually it's mnemonics and they are powerful things. here's one I remember after perhaps fifty years and only ever heard it spoken once. I've no idea what words it represents, - from Mrs Tripps and it's something to do with the human nervous system - I think.

On Old Olympian Mountain Tops A Finn and a German Gave a Hop


I use one I learned in the army as a password - but I won't tell you what it is - very non PC these days.

[Sue]

I spelt it incorrectly at first and put an M at the beginning, the spellcheck gave me the version i used . I plead not guilty.

What about Elephant Wendy, you never know when you may see an elephant.

[Sue]

I spelt it incorrectly at first and put an M at the beginning, the spellcheck gave me the version i used . I plead not guilty.

What about Elephant Wendy, you never know when you may see an elephant.

PS I see I had a choice of two spellings on the spellcheck , one must be american English. I have corrected it,

[Wendyf]

What about Elephant Wendy, you never know when you may see an elephant.

But I never forget Elephant!

[Tripps]

I have corrected it,

No worries - I was just showing off. I have a record by The Hilliard Group with Jan Gabarek and it's called Mnemosyne That's why I remember it.

I got close to SUNWACD - after the clues - I guessed it was rivers, but it's not really an 'easy to remember' device I'd say. I'd just rather remember the rivers.

From Maths : SOHCAHTOA and BODMAS

[Wendyf]

I've remembered it for nearly 60 years Tripps, which is a shame because it's not something I need to know!

[plaques]

Tripps, SOHCAHTOA Sine = opposite / hypotenuse, etc: is a damn site easier to remember than some sanskrit type word. and as for BODMAS. never heard of it. Unravelling a bracketed equation is just common sense without all that mumbo jumbo.

[Stanley]

I must be peculiar (And I don't mind people agreeing!) I find mnemonics totally baffling. The only one I ever remembered was "The Quick Brown Fox......" but I can't for the life of me remember what it was a clue for!
I shall be taking it easy again. I have ordered the wood for the engine base and will pick it up today.
Cutting the mint stems in the garden with Wendy's shears was a good blow but my calves and the back of my thighs are giving me hell! It was the clipping while bending down. So I shall be fighting through the pain as I walk and waiting for it to subside....
I have ideas for two more articles as well.....

[Wendyf]

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog was a typing exercise that uses all the keys. My SUNWACD mnemonic was to remember the rivers that flowed into the Ouse, the Swale, Ure, Nidd, Wharfe, Aire, Calder & Don.
Sue, I woke up this morning knowing that Elephant is the perfect word! It not only completes CHORE but it reminds me that I have something to remember, thank you!!

[Sue]

Pleased to be of service Wendy

Personally I prefer memory by association than mnemonics. I think the students I wrote about remembered the reflex arc by the situation in the classroom as much as the phrase they had come up with.

Today we travel back home, the ferry is tonight. Its been a lovely sunny week . Next visit will be pre Brexit in February or early March. Then we shall wait and see what happens, let the mud and the ferry port confusion settle a bit. This time we are taking the last of our produce ie pumpkins, aubergines, apples, and some sloes to make sloe gin. We may not be able to take these things next year when food and plants are checked at customs as we don’t know and may not know what will be allowed. Will I be able to take my veggie plants to France from the UK I wonder?

[Tripps]

Looks like I got my mnemonic example wrong - but quite close after a long time

Seems it is actually "On old Olympus' Towering Tops, a Finn and German viewed some hops"
and helps to remember the Cranial nerves

The quick brown fox was often used to just to type something on a Telex etc as a test transmission.

Others were
In the land of the blind the one eyed man is king,
Now is the time to come to the aid of the party,

The French used something like
Voici le brick qui reste pres de la grande wharfe . (brick means brig)
I couldn't find that on google. We will now.

[PanBiker]

Richard of York gained battle in vain

Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet.

Banded colour coding on resistors and capacitors at one time.

[Tripps]

I think those are the colours of the rainbow. The resistors codes for 0 -9 are
black brown red orange yellow green blue violet grey white.
Best not to mention how I will never forget that.

[PanBiker]

Indeed they are Tripps. I forgot to mention the black, brown, grey and white. The bits in the middle stand good though, in the main.

[Stanley]

Even more baffling! I must have led a very sheltered life! I am impressed by all of you and your memories.....
Today will be a blood test at the surgery and sorting out tomorrow's appointment at Airedale. Susan is on call to hold my hand and I am so grateful...... I begin to discover how vulnerable I am, I must get used to it!