All Singing All Blogging

I just got a new browser and it lets me add video, spell check and hyperlink in this blog - hoorah - I have entered the C21.
Unfortunately at a slightly dullardish moment in my life - so may not be used to great effect - BUt and I mean BUT it can be used! ( it also lets me embolden- ooh ahh) Such things that you PCs with internet explorer take for granted. I wonder if it will actually let me respond to comments - so the few eager beavers who deign to comment will not feel slighted by my lack of response?!?
I'm sorry - my face is going slightly numb - my new seagrass flooring was stuck down with industrial glue in a freshly decorated room today - so the excitement at basic word processing functions being finally available may be partly due to chemically induced hysteria. I am now going to step out into the fresh air - I may be sometime?

Blustering Barnacles

Today I had a lovely day with my Aunt. We had lunch at the Overstrand Cafe - I had tasty crab salad and decadent syrup sponge with custard for pud - to gird my insides and stave off the cold and gale force winds that beackoned on the beach. But it was exhilirating - the sand whipped up and stung our legs like in a sorroco wind forcing us down to the glimmering expanses of wet rippled sand dimpled by recent rain. We clambered over rock pools and held up our arms to be blown back by the winds power. It was so refreshing we walked all the way to Cromer and had pots of tea at the Rocket Cafe before being helped back by the winds encouragement - this time our calves getting the brunt of the stinging sand. It felt good to be alive.

All the Fun of the Fair?

There is a cred T-shirt my partner wore that says “How you spend your money affects what happens on the planet". Each purchase we make has the potential to bolster corporate unfair practices detrimental to national and international producers or support ethical trade that in turn supports local communities.
I feel that apart from letter writing, the way to trully lobby is to think about how we spend our money. There was a lot of talk about coffee shops in a recent post on dykestowatchoutfor.com - which trully do smell delightful - but is your first consideration the taste of the coffee or the ethics of the company/ owner you are buying the coffee from? Is it fair trade - what sort of life have the producers or workers had in providing it at that price?
Thankfully now fair trade products are more available and better quality - it is not always a choice between quality of production and quality of product. I would just love coffee chains to not just supply one fair trade option but commit to only fair trade products. Sainsbury’s and Coop supermarkets in the UK own brands of tea and coffee and chocolate respectively are now only fair trade and show it is possible at a great price. Wouldn’t it be amazing if starbucks not only stopped producing coffee that tasted burnt but also committed to serving only fair trade drinks. Now that could affect the planet.