You in your small corner

And I in mine - from my small corner today , this is the first Coffee Break sock finally finished . I couldn't work out the spiral effect from the graph provided so just continued the pattern straight up and added a nice manly thick rib since its for FIL .

The yarn is gorgeous and a pleasure to knit , however the chart for the spiral effect had me completely baffled so it took me a week after ripping out several times , to decide to modify the pattern . Also , I think FIL would prefer a plainer pattern , being a traditional Scotsman .

Was feeling frustrated that I hadn't finished anything , so I think a little change to my usual (lack of) routine . Now the children are back at school , it will make it easier to focus my energy on finishing things AND getting the house in order (although the last one is a pretty steep order).

It feels good to sort things out , get them done , tick the boxes then sit back and have a coffee break .

I've got addicted to the quick crossword in the paper recently , some days I get it done quickly , other days I struggle to understand the clues . Sometimes I go back the next day and the clues become clearer , so I go on to finish it . Result .

However , in reading the other parts of the newspaper , I am getting more confused and things are becoming less clear to me . Newspapers can do that , the reporting of news has always been (a wee bit verging on the) sensational (broadsheet) , or completely sensational (red-tops) .

Apparently (after these riots) our Country is in moral decline . Although there was a picture of over 20,000 people who came out in a show of unity and grief over the deaths of 3 young men . There was no fighting or mud-slinging there , just a dignified father who inspired his city , and made me proud to be part of this country . And the people came out to help with the clean-up and provide for those in need , was , too , inspiring .

Also , those who partook in the rioting are to be dealt with more severely than your usual crooks . Naively I thought the law was impartial and not arbitrary . Why should someone be dealt with more severely than another for committing the same crime ? Why are we putting petty thieves in with hardened criminals and setting them up for a life of criminality ? What happened to community service ? Why is the government interfering with the law and where is Cherie Booth when you need her ?

What is the British Government doing to Britain ?

And why is the stealing of goods and the jailing of thieves front page news when the death of people ends up six pages in ?

What is the British media doing to Britain ?

I look at Norway which has just come out of a months mourning for the victims of the massacre , and I get a peek at the beauty of human dignity. I don't hear shouting for more restrictive laws , or mobs bent on exacting revenge on the perpetrator .

It appears that if we don't ask these questions , if we don't rise above exacting revenge , if we care more for possessions than life then , yes , that is moral decline . When we lack tolerance and civility , when we blame the very least in our society for its ills , we have moral decline .

I don't believe we do have moral decline in this country , there are too many good , decent , caring people . People who give up their time and money freely to help others , run charities , look after the vulnerable , provide for the less well off , give company to the lonely .

Its time the politicians in charge actually met the people who truly "run" the country , the true and the good , the "Big Society" . Don't make their job harder .

Try and be a little more like Norway , shining like a clear pure light in a dark world .