rubykittyruby

  In a few hours time the clocks will be put back an hour and that's that as far as Summer is concerned.  It's always a little disconcerting when the clocks go forward in March or back in October.  There's the feeling of being unbalanced.  Unsettled by the shifting of time in this way.   I've spent part of today finishing this book, 'A Disappearance in Fiji' by Nilima Rao, set in 1914 and concerning the lives of indentured Indians on the island of Fiji.  This was the days of Empire, of colonial rulers and sugar cane plantations where conditions were appalling for the thousands of workers bought over from India.  Not only is it a well written story, but it gave me a glimpse of a slice of history I'd not known about.  In an afterword by the author, she notes that between 1879 and 1916 over 60,000 Indians went to Fiji as indentured servants.  Basically they were contracted to work for a fixed period of several years, for fixed pay, and were...

Do you ever those days when you spend ages looking for something?  You look in the place where it was meant to be.  Then places nearby, and odd shelves and cupboards and drawers.  Then you go back to the original place you looked ...  but all the time it's staring you in the face.  Honestly, I spend ages wondering where on earth I'd left rolls of washi tape and - oh yeah, I'd used them in this box of embroidery threads to keep the spools from falling over.  Doh!  Someone needs to invent a device where you can type in whatever you're looking for and it tells you 'it's over there!' and sighs dramatically, as if you're the biggest idiot in the world.   Anyway, enough of this nonsense.   I've just finished reading this, Rory Stewart's memoir of political life.  I'm neither a natural Tory or a frequent reader of politician's memoirs, but it's a cracking read.  It made me simultaneously feel sorry for MPs.  The good ones wh...