Blog Archives - FordeFables

February 29th, 2016.

29/2/2016

Thought for today:
"Today is a strange and amazing day that comes only once every four years. Today marks a 'leap' in time, when the calendar is adjusted to make up for extra seconds accumulated over the preceding three years due to the rotation of the earth. It is a day of temporal tune up, a day of unlocked potential, a day when the shy of heart woman dare ask her sweetheart to marry her without appearing unladylike. So be you a female of the coy kind, this could be your ideal year to take your heart in your mouth and jump towards what you have always secretly wanted.

There is a small yet very significant difference between you English and we Irish. Having had your freedom for much longer than us Irish, you have grown more accustomed to exercising your choice in accordance with your will, whatever its effect on the heart of another. If today in England, a woman should ask a man to marry her, the man may choose to either acquiesce to her proposal and accept it willingly or turn it down flat and tell her to 'take a hike!'. In Ireland however, on the 29th of February years, if proposed to by a woman, be she beautiful or ugly, tall or small, thin or fat, well tempered or foul mouthed; if she be single, then a man must accept her hand in marriage or be forever shamed in the eyes of the church, pub and wider community!

Doing is a quantum leap from imagining, so if you are a fair maiden in want of marriage to a certain man today, remember the wisdom of Lao Tzu who said, 'When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.' If on the other hand, you have a shadow of doubt about what you propose to do, I would ask you to remember that while bigamy is having one marriage partner too many, that monogamy is the same.........if you ask the wrong man!' William Forde: February 29th, 2016.

December 31st, 1969

29/2/2016

February 28th, 2016.

28/2/2016

"I am smiling because you are my brother. I am laughing because there is nothing you can do about it. It will be nice growing up with someone like you; someone to lean on, someone to count on and someone to tell on. Welcome to the real world brother where you wipe your own bum and big brothers rule! " William Forde: February 28th, 2016

February 27th, 2016.

27/2/2016

Thought for today:
"The best breeds thrive on the greenest of pastures. They lay down with nature's presence and awake with God's grace. They inter-breathe with earth, sky and sea and know that they did not come into this world, but out of it. They recognise that their deepest roots are bedded in nature and remain irrevocably linked with the rest of creation. As long as they live, they will sense something of the marvellous in all they see; something of the magic in all they touch. They will come to learn that nothing can befall them in life, be it disappointment, despair, calamity or disgrace which nature cannot repair or the soul cannot stitch. So preserve your nature and it will provide you with peace, for it is as silent as a stone when at rest." William Forde: February 27th, 2016

February 26th, 2016

26/2/2016

Thought for today:
"Whenever a situation arises that creates fear, there are two alternatives; either you fight or you take flight.

I am sure that we have all done some dangerous things in our lives; things that after we did them, we'd sit down and and realise that we could have seriously hurt or needlessly killed ourselves. I know that I have in my youth.

When I was twenty, I considered myself fearless and the possessor of a charmed life. In the 60's, young men were expected never to show fear; especially in front of their peers and I was always capable of putting on a brave face. Whatever the challenge, I found it easier to take on than turn down. I probably had a twisted personality at the time as one of my greatest fears was heights, yet I believed that only by climbing higher would I ever conquer this fear. My greatest fear of all however was the possession of fear itself; any fear!

I can recall climbing up an eighty-foot high chimney in the works of Harrison Gardners for a £5 bet, and at the top, inching around the circumference and descending by the iron ladder at the other side. I had always been afraid of heights and remain so today. So while I never lost that fear, I can say that I won the bet! I remember the railway bridge in Heckmondwike near the Catholic Church. Two boys would race each other across walls of one foot wide at each side of the road. If you fell the forty foot drop onto the rails below there would be one less at the table for tea. I must have taken up this foolish challenge dozens of times and I never heard of anyone falling.

We did many daring and daft things in those days. When new housing was being built on Windybank Estate where I lived, it was the initiation task of every new gang member to climb the scaffold and jump from the roof height of approximately twenty feet into a pile of sand below. The newcomer to the gang never knew until after their 'leap of death' that the rest of us had buried at least one dozen bricks beneath the sand surface! We also had real life Cowboy and Indian battles down the fields called Green Lane at Hartshead armed with 202 pellet guns and arrows with darts fixed in the end of their shaft. The one time I came a cropper was at the age of 17 years when I mounted a cow in a field on Windybank Lane, pretending that I was riding a bronco horse or rodeo steer. Seconds after mounting the cow, it threw me to the ground and ran over me. Fortunately, a few broken ribs a fractured wrist and bruises is all I incurred along with a few days in Batley Hospital. Naturally, when I was telling the tale to the rest of my drinking mates in the pub later, I magically turned the cow into a raging bull and instead of remaining on its back for mere seconds, I rode it for almost five minutes before it stumbled in a field pothole and managed to throw me. The film that was all the rage at the time was 'Tommy the Toreador,' starring Tommy Steel; the year was 1959.

I know now that doing those dares then was stupid, but these were just a few of the initiation tests necessary to join the gang and to remain a proud young man who maintained the respect of other gang members. The girls on the other hand had their own favourite sport, which usually involved leading the lads a merry dance by pretending that they were not interested while forever yearning they had been born boys instead of having bigger boobs. If however a girl wanted to join a boy's gang, a special initiation test would be devised by the boys. Ah... those were the days! " William Forde: February 26th, 2016.

February 25th, 2016.

25/2/2016

Thought for today:
"I recall a number of years ago seeing gangs of youths walking around the streets dressed in hoodies. It wasn't their numbers that intimidated me, but the fact that they concealed their identities from the other passers by. I suppose that in some way, it was like seeing cowboys from the days of the wild west wearing bandanas which concealed their identities when they held up a stage coach and robbed a bank or when they covered their faces on long dusty cattle treks to market as they rode at the rear of the herd.

Women of some Islamic traditions daily dress in the Burka; a garment that covers them from head to toe and which is used to preserve their modesty. The fact that faces are concealed offends the sensibilities of many who also find this practice intimidating. It is as though when one cannot see what lies beneath a hood or face covering, then something untoward must be going on beneath the veil; some evil thoughts must be being thought or some wicked action intended.

I realise that we are now living in more violent and uncertain times when suspicions are raised more easily and one person is capable of doing all manner of wrong to countless others, simply because they follow a different religion, support a different political group or hold widely different opinions on this or that; even because they look different, act differently or come from far away places and are culturally different!

I also accept that while each country in the world has a humane responsibility to assist and assimilate asylum seekers as Britain has done on many occasions in the past, that to operate a policy of 'uncontrolled emigration' for the economic migrant is neither helpful nor viable to the indigenous person or newcomer! I still recall in 1972, when President Idi Amin of Uganda expelled almost 60,000 of his people from their country besides killing between another 100,000 and 500,000, and the British response. At that time, only Great Britain welcomed the expelled Ugandans, who in turn prospered as successful shop keepers and business men here, because they brought added skills and chose to culturally fit into their adopted country.

When my family and many other Irish families came to England during the 1940s, it wasn't to change the English culture and customs, but to have a better life in the form of occupation, accommodation and future prospects; things that were in short supply back in Ireland. I won't pretend that relationships with one's new neighbours was always dinky dory and that when natural disagreements occurred between a native to West Yorkshire and an Irish immigrant, that name calling like tinker and exhortations to 'Go back to your own country and take your popery with you' didn't take place. Of course it did!

The discrimination hurt deeply at the time, but it didn't diminish our character or destroy our future. Neither did we allow such insults to keep us segregated from the larger English community or divorced from their affections. Within a short time we were truly integrated with English customs and the family adopted those customs we liked whilst ignoring those we didn't. I will always remain grateful to England for offering my family a home and a future. All that we aspired to over the years, all that we have and all we became, none of this would have been possible if England hadn't accommodated us during the 1940s in our time of need.

When I read about the rest of the world, both during the 1940s and today, the discrimination displayed by the English at the time (although admittedly wrong), was no more than any other country in the world and was in many ways much less! Whereas the discrimination of the English was exercised mainly through name calling and denying equal status, other nations were cutting off hands for having stolen a few coppers or lynching those citizens from trees whose facial features were harder to identify in the dark of night!

I doubt that the present problems in the world will be sorted out in my life time, or indeed if they ever will, but what I do know, what I instinctively feel is that the English are a compassionate nation and shall, in the end, do their bit and play their part in helping any new neighbour to our shores, whatever dress they choose to wear." William Forde: February 25th, 2016.

February 24th, 2016

24/2/2016

Thought for today:
"We all have at least one dark secret in our lives which we would do anything to keep unknown from the world; a secret so shocking that we would never tell our best friend, spouse, family member, total stranger or soul mate, because we acted so wrong at the time and have been ashamed of the incident ever since. I'll tell you mine, if you promise not to think too badly to me.

Many years ago, fifty to be precise, while out in Canada, I sometimes took a boat out on my own. I would go out of Toronto Bay and spend a sunny weekend afternoon drifting aimlessly without a care in the world. At the time, although I always had an eye for the ladies, I would never give way to impropriety of any kind. Indeed, my late dear mother always told me as a child, 'When you grow up, Billy, be a man of the world by all means, but always polish your shoes before you go out and wear clean underpants in case you have an accident and finish up in hospital, and whatever the circumstances you find yourself in, always behave like 'a proper gentleman.'

I took these words of my mum on board and I have always kept them without fail. But what's this dark secret I hear you ask yourselves that shamed me ever since? One sunny afternoon while sailing the Toronto Lake, I went far farther out in the water than I'd ever gone before. Suddenly I heard screaming, lots and lots of ladies screaming their heads off fearfully. They seemed to be half a mile away and the boat they were in was in the process of sinking. An old repair had seemingly opened up on its underside and they were frantically trying to bale out the excess water with cupped hands, but their efforts were proving futile and the water was coming into their boat quicker than they could cup it out. 'Save us! For God's sake, somebody save us before we drown', they screamed.

After spotting my boat in the far distance, hope entered their bodies and they started to shout for help in my direction as they waved their hands to attract my attention. Seeing them obviously in distress I sailed towards them, but as I drew closer and started to see them more clearly, I saw that every single boat occupant drowning was a naked woman crying out for help.

Having never been confronted with such a sight or dilemma before, my mother's advice to me as a child came rushing back to my rescue, 'When you grow up, Billy, be a man of the world by all means, but..................... whatever the circumstances you find yourself in, always behave like 'a proper gentleman.'

There was simply no way that I could manhandle a lady from her sinking boat to mine safely, while casting my eyes away, especially if the lady was not my wife and was stark naked! So sadly, I did the only thing that any proper gentleman in my circumstances could have done; I turned my boat around and returned to Toronto Bay as the fourteen naked ladies went down with their boat and disappeared beneath the water line!

In your dreams! I've no intention of telling any of you lot my dark shameful secret. I'll take it to my grave first!" William Forde: February 24th, 2016.

February 23rd, 2016.

23/2/2016

Thought for today:
"Never regret growing older, for it is a privilege denied to many. While I cannot recall being held in the arms of my grandmother as an infant, I know that I was and I also know that I undoubtedly benefited from it.

There are many children born into the world who have never had the privilege of knowing their grandparents. Such people have truly missed out on knowing one of the most important people ever to grace a child's existence. Grandmothers are not only a vital link to our past, but are often the mainstay of the present.

I was the first born of seven children to my mother. I was born inside the home of my grandmother's house at 14, William Street, Portlaw, County Waterford, Ireland. To be precise about the location, it was on the third mattress on the floor of the front bedroom. While many an Irish man has been born at home instead of in a hospital maternity ward, most mothers giving birth usually have the benefit of a solid bed and not three mattresses stacked upon each other to give birth on! At the time of my birth, mum and dad lived thirty miles apart; he with his family in Kilkenny and she at her parent's house. Being a small terraced cottage that housed a large family, mum like all the mums of her time, had a home birth and made do with what they had.

I later learned that my mother, aunties Nelly and Nora and Uncle Willie had been born on mattress number one which came from Killenaule, County Tipperary and my uncles Johnie and Tommy were born on mattress number two which was purchased in Waterford. Mattress number three didn't occupy 14, William Street long before my birth and was purchased second hand in the nick of time in County Kilkenny where my father lived. It was carried by him to Portlaw, some thirty miles, rested across the handle bars and saddle of his bicycle, two weeks before I was due to enter the world.

With my mother still needing to work part time after my birth and my father living in another county, my grandparents looked after me a great deal of the time. Now let me say here and now, by 'looked after me' I mean that they were around doing their daily work in the same house and looked in my direction when they happened to pass me. My grandfather was the man in the village who mended all the bicycles from his garden shed. I recall that he would rarely get paid for his labour in cash; often woodbines and home-grown food produce would be the payment offered. He was always busy smoking his woodbines (over forty a day) and mending his old bicycles in his shed. Whenever I went into his shed, he would puff his cigarette in his mouth without ever holding it in his hand and say, 'Your grandma has a biscuit she has just baked for you, Billy Forde. Don't let it get cold now. Now, go away and let me get on mending this bike!'

And sure enough, upon going back inside the house, Grandma would always give me a biscuit when I asked for one. Grandma Fanning was always cooking on her big black range. She baked her own soda bread and would always break off the end of the loaf to eat after she had scraped away the excess burn marks. Soda bread and salty Irish butter has always been a favourite with me ever since childhood. Grandma rarely cleaned her range and always swore that the food cooked and tasted better that way as too much cleaning washed away all the natural goodness.

I soon learned that what happens in grandma's kitchen stays in grandma's kitchen. We had our daily secrets and one of them would be not to tell my granddad that she frequently stole an odd Woodbine of his out of his packet when he wasn't looking. Grandma did not believe that whatever one marriage partner took from the other without their consent constituted 'theft.' I would usually get a buttered biscuit or a piece of soda bread for keeping her secrets, but years later, when I returned for holidays in my teens and smoked myself, I would sometimes get blamed for pinching the odd Woodbine from granddad's cigarette packet when grandma had stolen it and denied it!

Grandma Fanning wasn't a pretty woman in the attractive looks department and had a lived-in face. She'd had a hard life and being the eldest girl in a large family, she'd been forced to miss out much of her childhood years and grow up long before her time. Her skin was lined upon the bones of her face by the weather-beaten years she'd endured working outside in all climates of her childhood when she ought to have been at school, and her early teens had taken its toll upon what little facial beauty remained. She looked older than her years and in the centre of her face protruded a big nose that was large enough to hang a kettle on!

Just before my fifth birthday, mum, dad, me and my two younger sisters (who'd themselves had been privileged with a hospital birth), came to West Yorkshire, where we lived and prospered. Every other year my mother would miss paying the household bills for a week and take us to my grandparents in Ireland for a holiday. She invariably arrived penniless and my grandparents would freely put us up until we'd eaten them out of house and home.

My grandparents loved each other in their own way, but neither were too demonstrative in the expression of their affections. They had this peculiar habit of hardly speaking to each other during the day, but then when they came to bed on a nighttime, they would talk and smoke in bed for hours before they went to sleep.They died within a few months of each other in their mid seventies.

I had reached my twenties by the time my grandparents died. I came to understand in later years that a grandma is only a mum with lots of practice, and who is privileged to have two goes at motherhood. I guess that it is such a privilege being the mother of a mother and that there is no grander person to be. Being my mother's first child and my grandmother's first grandchild made me extra special in her eyes. She used to say, 'Billy Forde, perfect love doesn't arrive until the first grandchild comes along!'

Grandma will always remain a special person in my life and when I die, my wife has been instructed to have a part of my ashes scattered on Haworth Moor, a part on my parents' grave in Heckmondwike and the third part scattered on my grandparents' grave in Portlaw, Ireland." William Forde: February 23rd, 2016.

February 22nd, 2016.

22/2/2016

Thought for today:
"There are lots of people in this great big world of ours who I would give the 'thumbs up' to. The vast majority are triers; the ones who simply refuse to give up at the first, second or even the third attempt. Such people are an inspiration to the rest of us. They may realise that they cannot stop the waves of change arriving on their shores, but they simply refuse to be drown by them and instead learn to surf them.

I give the thumbs up to those women who have had a miscarriage or stillbirth and still keep trying to give birth to a child: to those unemployed people who have sent off hundreds of job applications and keep on doing so : to the homeless who refuse to become heartless : to the soldier who has come back from the war zone with fewer limbs than he set out with and needs to readjust to his new life from the arms of a wheelchair: to the learner driver who has taken a dozen failed tests and is still determined to pass : to the pupil who is daily bullied and still goes to school to face down the bully: to all folk with terminal illnesses who refuse to make today their final day : to those who have lost a loved family member or soul mate but refuses to lose all memory of them: to the nurses, doctors, surgeons and all medical staff who live daily surrounded by the dying, but who carry on their attempts to heal: to those who feel like taking their own life, but stay around to face another day: to those who had a poor relationship with a parent and were never told they were loved as a child, but who are determined to relate well to their child and never allow a day to pass without telling them they are loved: to the person who has loved and lost, but keeps one's heart open to the possibility of a new love in their life: to the couple who made their lifelong marriage work against all odds: to the poor person who still shares with their neighbour the little they possess: to all those lost individuals whose search for self is still ongoing.

All of these amazing people can be found in any street at any time, though we may not recognise their daily plight. To all of these amazing people I give the 'thumbs up.' All such people learn from their yesterdays, live for today and hope for tomorrow. Whatever befalls them night or day, they never quit their day dream. They are an example to us all and make the world a better place for others. Thumbs up to them all." William Forde: February 22nd, 2016.

February 21st, 2016.

21/2/2016

Thought for today:
"To get the most from life, we should live today as though there was no tomorrow. Be not frightened of the public gaze if you wish to go out into the world. Be yourself, as that is the least pretentious person you will ever become. Never be afraid to smile as this action is the most disarming of all personal weapons we have in our armory, especially with strangers. A smile is so powerful when it is unforced; it has been known to have saved the day of many a person it was given to. If you don't know where to find your smile, it is located immediately beneath your nose. Only when we are liberated enough to put our tongue out at the world dressed in all its serious finery can we say that we are truly free." William Forde: February 21st, 2016.

February 20th, 2016.

20/2/2016

Thought for today:
"In a world today that is governed by protectionism and self interest, it is the innocence of children who hold the key to ultimate peace and eternal salvation. It is the children who exemplify humanity as our race and love our religion. It is the little ones who will stand tallest among us when we are called to reckoning. So stay forever close to their affection and be guided by their unyielding desire for care and compassion in all things, for their way is the only way to take us through this maze of madness we adults call civilization." William Forde: February 20th, 2016.

February 19th, 2016.

19/2/2016

Thought for today:
"Today I go into hospital again for my fortnightly blood transfusion. Whilst there, I shall also have an extra procedure to take a bone marrow sample for laboratory testing. I should know the result of those tests in a few weeks time.

Before I started my chemotherapy treatment two years ago, I had developed cancer in a few parts of my body, including the bone marrow. After receiving chemotherapy, some of my cancer nodes had gone and some had reduced in size. My bone marrow had cleared at the time. Given the terminal nature of my condition, I was informed that the cancer would inevitably return and it was therefore a matter of 'time' and not 'if.' I was also told it was the quality of my remaining life which now mattered more than its extent, along with the management of my illness.

Since Christmas, my blood count has become and remained critically low, the period between blood transfusions have lessened and further tests are required to try to discover why. Naturally, as I enter hospital today, I will own to some trepidation, as until I receive the results on my bone marrow test, my road ahead will be less clear than it previously was.

While there are some illnesses that are self induced, there are infinitely more that fall randomly and for which no apparent reason for their presence exists. Like the changing weather conditions we face one day to the next, it is our lot to endure and wherever possible enjoy. The best we can do is not to allow inclement weather to make us housebound, but instead to put on one's coat and button up or open one's umbrella if needs be; to do whatever is required not to withdraw from the world, but to remain a driving force within it.

This is a brief poem I composed after I got up this morning and which matches my current feelings about the magic of life and the beauty and pain to be gained from every storm we pass through:

'Beauty in a Blizzard' by William Forde

'There is beauty in a blizzard
there is magic in a storm.
There is peace on earth for all who berth
in homes of love so warm.

The snow gives not a soft white dam
to whom it settles on.
It falls, it melts and chaos cause,
blinds motorists through its soft white gauze,
leaves destruction in its winter's wake
and won't let up for mercy's sake.

That's the beauty of the blizzard,
that's the pain within the storm.'

William Forde: Copyright February 19th, 2016.

February 18th, 2016.

19/2/2016

Thought for today:
"One of the most salutary lessons I have had to learn in life is that most relationships have a 'sell by date.' Sometimes that date is when the marriage breaks up and divorce naturally follows. For some, though the marriage contract be lifelong, the relationship exists in name only as the couple live their individual lives beneath the same marital roof and go their separate ways. For the very lucky ones, love exists throughout their married life and is even said to endure beyond the grave.

The very worse thing, the most futile thing to engage in is holding on to someone who doesn't want to be held on to. It is like attaching a huge ball and chain to your ankle and throwing away the key, because you refuse to let go of the past and accept the current situation. If you do not accept the reality of the relationship's ending for the other person, it will drag you down wherever you go or whoever attaches themselves to you.

Sometimes, like a loved one on their death bed who has been hanging on in pain because you want them to live and stay with you as long as is humanely possible, there comes a time when you should let them go with your blessing, however painful it is for you to stay behind. We sometimes have to let go of the things we most love and allow our sadness to fly away on the wings of time, or else we diminish the capacity ever to love again." William Forde: February 18th, 2016.

December 31st, 1969

18/2/2016

February 17th, 2016

17/2/2016

Thought for today:
"I often wonder if our intended were presented with an image of us in one of our worst states of being, would they they still go ahead with the planned wedding or would they merely put it down to a one-off ladies' night out?" William Forde: February 17th, 2016.

February 16th, 2016.

16/2/2016

Thought for today:
"While I have always held a healthy respect for the 'special relationship' that Great Britain has had with America since the 'Second World War', it has always been generally accepted by both countries that neither interferes with or seeks to influence the internal politics of the other.

Why then has Obama come out on Cameron's side of the argument with regard to whether we stay in or leave the European Union in the coming referendum? The mere fact that an outgoing President of the United States of America is prepared to 'come out' for David Cameron is a good barometer that David Cameron's lies have also been outed by the British electorate and that he is running scared as to how we will vote in the coming referendum.

In the whole of my long political life, there has never been a political question that I have been 100 per cent certain of, with the exception of this one the country faces now: whether Britain should stay in or leave the European union? I have not the slightest doubt that we should leave at the earliest opportunity. However, whatever outcome the voter truly wants, if the genuine wishes of the electorate are circumvented this time, I shall never vote for any mainstream political party again and may even consider anarchism as a viable alternative form of expression.

We were lied to by Edward Heath in 1972 when he took us in and we have been lied to by every successive British Prime Minister since! The politicians care not one jot as to the electorate's opinion on the matter and will resort to any degree of scaremongering to frighten us into voting to stay in.

Many constitutional experts believe that Britain isn't actually a member of the European Union since our apparent entry was in violation of British law and was, therefore invalid. In enacting the European Communities Bill through an ordinary vote in the House of Commons, Ted Heath's Government breached the constitutional convention which requires a prior consultation of the people.

Just weeks before the 1970 general election which made him Prime Minister, Edward Heath declared that it would be wrong if any Government contemplating membership of the European Community were to take this step without `the full hearted consent of Parliament and people'.

However, when it came to it, Heath didn't have a referendum because opinion polls at the time (1972) showed that the British people were hugely opposed (by a margin of two to one) against joining the Common Market. Instead, Heath merely signed the documents that took us into what became the European Union on the basis that Parliament alone had passed the European Communities Bill of 1972. When the fait accompli was finally presented to the British voter for ratification, the people were left thinking they had voted for one thing while in effect getting another. The British people had voted for a common trade agreement and not a common political union between European countries! I am disgusted with the ease that successive politicians have duped the British electorate in this matter throughout.

However, as I've already bitten into the poisoned political apple, I may as well have a second bite by declaring my beliefs regarding other matters over the years in which British Prime Ministers have lied to the electorate.

Allow me to say that I do not believe myself to generally be a supporter of conspiracy theories, but even my nose cannot come up smelling of roses when there is something fishy going on down below! I believe that Thatcher and Reagan and Blair and Bush were also under the political blankets with each other during their terms of Office as are Cameron and Obama today.

I believed that Edward Heath lied to us in 1972 about the true aim of the Common Market. I believe that Margaret Thatcher lied to us about the truth of her intentions with regard to the extent of pit closures in the 1980s as well as the direction the General Belgrano was travelling in when she gave the order to sink it with the loss of 323 lives on the 2nd May, 1982, during the Falklands War (away from engagement and not towards it). I believe that Tony Blair knowingly lied to Parliament in April, 2002 when he said that Saddam Hussein's regime had developed weapons of mass destruction and again in September, 2002 when he said that Saddam had existing and active military plans for the use of chemical and biological weapons, which could be activated within 45 minutes. I also believe that the weapons' expert, David Kelly, who was mysteriously found dead on the 17th July, 2003, died neither by his own hand or natural means. I believe that he was murdered by someone working on behalf of the British Secret Services or known to or on the direction of Government sources. As to the late Princess Diana who warned in advance of her own death by mysterious means, I still haven't made my mind up on that one yet!

In short, I believe that since Edward Heath took Office in the 70s that all our Prime Ministers have lied to the electorate on important issues apart from their expenses and that at least one of them ought to be prosecuted under the Hague Convention as a war criminal! Now try and work out my political persuasion." William Forde: 16th, 2016.

February 15th, 2016.

15/2/2016

Thought for today:
"Just as being comfortable in one's skin is a most secure feeling, so the same kind of safety and settledness is produced within us when we are snuggly wrapped up at home in front of the fire with a plate of biscuits on one's knee and a drink at one's side as we listen to the pelting rain outside frantically knock at the window and hear the wild wind send its roar through the tree tops. There is no place like home and there is simply no pleasure like the comforts of one's home.

The ache for home lives in all of us. It is a safe place where we can go and not be answerable to another or questioned by any. I have met many single women of middle age and beyond, who though they never married, declared that they are so comfortable with their own company in their own home now that they wouldn't risk losing what freedom they possess by having the intrusion of another into their daily routine; especially a smelly man whose unmentionable sounds are unwelcomed by any lady of the house. One spinster colleague who I worked with in the Huddersfield Probation Office once told me, 'When you live alone, Bill, the companionship you have is never too cold for comfort and is always acceptable; and what you do and the way you do it is always to your liking.'

Despite the many advances and the overall improvements to the nation's living standards since the end of the Second World War, the one obvious area we severely fall behind in today (whichever political party is in power), is in the amount and quality of our housing stock for families who need a house and who will never be able to buy their own home. When we build a mere fraction of newer homes each year than the country needs, we are undoubtedly in the midst of a 'housing crisis.' When the totality of new houses built annually number fewer than the number of new homeless arrivals to our shores, the housing crisis inexorably worsens!

As to the homeless who cannot even find any manner of roof over their heads for the night, they have to sleep on park benches covered by sheets of cardboard, beneath arches, in shop doorways, under tunnels and even in large waste disposal bins. What safety and feelings of comfort will they know when the cold air bites and the pouring rain soaks?

It was Confusius who said, 'The state of a nation derives from the integrity of the home.' Where is there an ounce of integrity in any Prime Minister of the day who allows the nation's housing stock to worsen year after year? When Prime Ministers raised in fine dwellings are too smooth in their daily dealings to worry about those citizens sleeping rough, as Hamlet might say, 'Something is rotten in the State of Denmark.'

Every year since the end of the Second World War, all Prime Ministers have pledged to greatly improve the nation's housing stock by their end of office and with a few exceptions in the 50s and 60s, all have failed. I doubt if there will be any significant positive change during the years ahead. Do I respect them I hear you ask? In all truth, I wouldn't share my last biscuit with any of them." William Forde: February 15th, 2016.

February 14th, 2016.

14/2/2016

Thought for today:
"Little did I know when I was a young cub on the cusp of freedom that I was was in effect a lion at rest. I was fearless of the outcome of all I undertook and believed that I was one of those very few people on earth who would one day make it spin a bit more peaceably on an axis of love.

Then a mistaken first marriage seemed to sap the strength of this Samson and for over a decade my mane was mangy. Being unable to make happy the woman I had married whatever I did, I took all the misspent love I'd given her and instead lavished it on the two children of my marriage in abundance. An acrimonious divorce followed, along with over two years of not having any access or contact to my children, despite orders of court to the contrary.

It was during this period of exile from my sons James and Adam that I found new love and I began a period of my life which went from strength to strength, both in my personal and professional life. I became a successful children's writer and raised over £200,000 for charity through the profits on the sales from my books. Over the following twenty eight years my mane regrew ever more magnificent than before and three more children came into my life, William and Rebecca and my step son Matthew. My second marriage was good, but after the children had grown and left home, my wife decided that our relationship had also run its course and expressed her wish to end our union. We parted amicably and have remained on friendly terms ever since, enjoined in parental responsibility until we die by the mutual love of the children we parented.

Neither of my marriages were not ended by me and I would have gladly served out my time in each had I been given the opportunity. Having been dumped twice by the woman in my life, I made the decision not to be dumped again! Determined to have no more marriages behind me and being retired from work with both means and money to travel, over the next couple of years I roamed the country far and wide looking more for a new playmate as opposed to a soul mate. I changed my lady acquaintances a few times weekly. With two marriages behind me, one broken and the second lasting well past its 'sell by date', any thoughts of a third wife was a more distant possibility to me than joining the Liberal Party.

Over the next few years my life seemed filled with lust expended and miles travelled and I eventually started to become bored with the transient relationships experienced in the overnight stops between Lands End and John O'Groats. Just when I'd resigned myself to the remainder of my life as a bachelor, I came across my lioness, Sheila, whom I found among the heather on Haworth Moor looking for rich pickings. It was her combing of my mane again, her massaging of my ego, her stirring of my loins and the shining of her loving torch upon the reflective goodness in my soul which made me magnificent once more. Only she could see the beauty in an old lion about to fall asleep on its past life and prod its snoring pride into a mighty roar; it was only she who dared to wake its passion once more. I love you wildly my Monkey of the Chinese Year, my earthly angel, my eternal Valentine xxxxx." William Forde: February 14th, 2016.

February 13th, 2016

13/2/2016

Thought for today:

'A Child's Dream' by William Forde.

'A child's dream is nought but God at play
with love-shaped leaves; a woodland day.
Where brown bears climb up branchless trees
and goblins hide within the breeze,
and wrap themselves in candy clouds
while down below bears talk to owls.
That which is found in innocence is never what it seems,
but a wand of magic specialness, a wood of childish dreams.'

Copyright William Forde: February 13th, 2016

February 12th, 2016.

12/2/2016

Thought for today:
"Without sounding blasphemous, if man made man today, would his creation exceed that of God's? We all know that the perfect human does not exist and given what we know today about the world in which we live and the types of people who populate it, could we not create a better specimen of being; one more in keeping with the Christian values most of us cherish?

A perfect human would automatically be endowed with all of the traits we have come to accept as being 'good qualities' in a person and possess none of those 'bad qualities.' They would be endowed with lovingness, kindness, understanding, tolerance, generosity etc. I could easily extend the list and still be itemising good quality traits tomorrow, but you get the picture.

Were man to create such a human, would he not have excelled over and above the creation of God's by creating a being who did not cheat, steal, deceive, dishonour; a human being who refused to ever engage in war, hurt, harm or kill? I think not!

Just as there is no shade of grey without the blending of black and white, it is a known scientific fact that all things emanate from their opposites. Thus, there can be no presence of 'goodness' in this world without the existence of 'badness' and all the in between traits existing also.There would be no way of making valid any experience, emotion or feeling we had; no way of knowing if we felt that which we'd just felt, no sensations to tell us if the emotion we had was either good or bad to experience without conceptual opposites. Take feelings for instance. We cannot feel hot unless our senses knew what it was like to feel cold, nor could we could ever know that we were in the presence of generosity if we had no conception or experience of meanness. We could never have either experience or feeling without a presence and conceptual understanding of all opposites in our lives. In short, here could be no heaven without a hell!

The one thing which would be missing in a man-made man, would be that attribute of 'free will' to exercise opposing thoughts, words and actions as one chose. Free will is that crucial ingredient within the whole mixture of God's creation which enables mankind to live either the best possible life or the worse possible existence they choose to live from cradle to grave. This fact alone illustrates that the true importance lies not solely in our actions, but our intentions; not only what we do, but why we do it! As the playwright T.S.Eliot said in his drama 'Murder in the Cathedral' that portrays the assassination of Archbishop Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral in the year 1120, 'The greatest treason is to do the right deed for the wrong reason.'

It is only through our capacity to exercise free will, can such choice ever prove decisive in one's destiny; only in this way can the goodness one passes on to another be of any worth and the purpose of life and death hold any meaning." William Forde: February 12th, 2016.

February 11th, 2016.

11/2/2016

Thought for today:
"Enduring partnership rests in being able to discern each other's feelings, mirror each other's moods and know each other's inner thoughts, even when you are in a moment of fall out and hold different view points about this or that." William Forde: February 11th, 2016.

February 10th, 2016.

10/2/2016

Thought for today:
"Oh why, oh why didn't I tell him what I felt about him before he went off to war? I may never see him again and he'll never know I much I loved him! I cannot possibly say that I lost him when my love was undeclared and his was never spoken; when he was never mine to lose. We never dated or even kissed; merely exchanged summer afternoon glances that required no words to know their meaning. For a full four years I loved him from afar and I doubt he even sensed my presence or guessed from whom the Valentine cards came, marked not with name but scented kiss.

If you love someone with all your heart, don't sit on the fence. Say it plain and say it out loud, otherwise the moment and your love will have passed you by. If anything happens to your soldier love you'll never forgive yourself for not having spoken out and you'll never forget him, you can't. Trying to forget someone you love is utterly impossible; it's like trying to remember a moment you never had or meeting a person you never met.

Come home Harry and walk my way again with that manly look and those seductive eyes. I shall not let you pass unchallenged next time. Let no one who dares to love be unhappy, for even secret love, even love unreturned has its rainbow on lonely days." William Forde: February 10th, 2016.

February 9th, 2016.

9/2/2016

Thought for today:
"What better role model can a young child have than that of a good mum? For when making adequate preparation for one's life ahead and the obstacles which are most likely to come your way, who is better equipped to inform the child setting out on their maiden journey than the seasoned traveller who has walked the road before them? They may not be able to protect and steer you around every obstacle that will block your path, but they will probably know best where the biggest pot holes lie and where you are most likely to fall down!

And the mothers who are the cleverest will know that today is Shrove Tuesday, pancake day. But the mothers who shall remain the most memorable in the eyes of their children are the ones who will show them how to make a pancake and toss it in the pan!

Did you know that making a pancake is infinitely easier than tossing a pancake? Not many people can toss a pancake, especially children between the ages of 5-9 years old. Action Annie tossed her pancake, but though the pancake went up in the air, it never came down and she lost it! Any child who wants to find out where he pancake went can find out from reading 'Action Annie: The Complete Omnibus', available from www.lulu.com or www.amazon for the price of £5.99, with all profit going to charity. The stories are also available as singles or all twelve in e-book format from www.smashwords.com The stories are suitable for the 5-9 year old reader. There are twelve seasonal stories in this book of which Annie's Pancake is the one for this month. The late Dame Catherine Cookson liked the Action Annie stories so much that she paid to have the first ever publication of them printed, and the late Chris Woodhead, a former Chief Inspector of Schools for Ofsted described the book in an interview to the press as 'high quality literature.'
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Action-Annie-The-Compl…/…/1502856344

Should any child like to hear four of the Action Annie stories for free, recorded by the television actress Brigit Forsyth (Thelma of 'The Likely Lads'), please follow the link below that will take them to my website and their stories:
ttp://www.fordefables.co.uk/action-annie.html

Have a nice day mums and get out that pan; it's Shrove Tuesday, pancake day! There is no excuse such as, 'I don't know how to make a pancake' as 'Action Annie' will give you the recipe. Give your child a day they will never forget! I like my pancakes smothered with maple syrup." William Forde: February 9th, 2016." William Forde: November 30th, 2015.

February 8th, 2016.

8/2/2016

Thought for today:
"Three years ago I was informed that I had a terminal illness, and though all days be good to the taste and be thankful for, some days are sweeter and are easier to swallow. Today is a good day. Today is Chinese New Year Day (the year of the Monkey). According to our birth years, I am a Horse and my wife Sheila is a Monkey. It looks like this year is Sheila's year and we are having a Chinese New Year meal at the Old Folks' Home of mother-in-law, Elizabeth, to celebrate our lives.

I have always tried to make God a part of my daily existence instead of an intrusion into it. During my life I have always tried to help others and I do genuinely believe that what goes around comes around. From one period in my life to the next, my method of helping may have varied, but however differently I wrap up any talent or gift I possess and can hand on, I am forever guilty of handing out the same present repackaged over and over again from my bucket of hope and well of love. My mother used to tell me as a child, 'Billy, it's better to give the poor your love and hope more than money. Money is spent today whereas hope can last a lifetime, especially when its companion is love!'

There are so many things that I could tell you, so many words I could say to express myself, but in the final analysis all would fall short. What I do know with absolute certainty is that 'love is life and without one the other is pointless.' I believe that we each have a purpose in life, and it remains vital that we follow it, as it's the only route to finding our true selves. My purpose since my late teens has remained constant and is always at the forefront of my mind. It is the same now as it was when I visited the Cheshire Homes regularly between the ages of 18-21 and spent numerous hours listening and talking to many people who were destined to soon die. My life's purpose is to help people to live and die in a happier and more hopeful state of being.

Ever since childhood, the commandment that has always made the most sense to me has been 'To love your neighbour as yourself.' I do truly believe that the expression of love from one person to another is a reflection of mankind's ultimate goodness and represents the surest path to peace and happiness within the world. I know that many good people cannot or do not believe in the presence of a God, yet act every bit as good in their thoughts, words and deeds as their Christian neighbour or any other believer possibly could. This fact has always enabled me to see the inherent goodness in everyone and believe in the possible redemption of all through our deeds and honest intentions.

I know that there are some countries like India and China who have many Gods who appear in many forms. I also know that some people do not pray in the formal sense to a supreme being, yet I know that we all speak in thought if not word from time to time and frame our inner feelings into hope for the future. So I have this morning composed a brief 'poem' or 'prayer' as a special 'thank you' to you all for your kindness towards me over the past few years which has supported and sustained me in my illness from day to day. Though I be 73 years old to you, in the eyes of my God, I remain a child of creation. The Creator holds a special place in His kingdom for the prayers of each one of his children. I believe that upon the very opening of every child's heart, even before the uttering of their first word, the child's prayer is granted instant access into the ears of God:

'Dear God' By William Forde: Copyright February 8th, 2016.

'Dear God, they say you are good and ever so kind,
I do naughty things, yet you don't seem to mind.
You never have stopped me or turned me away
from temptation or sin, nor led me astray.
It's as though you know that I'm not really bad,
and can choose my own fate, either happy or sad.
Sometimes I think you are talking to me,
but when I look round there is nothing to see
except laughter and smile on another man's face,
the kindness of thought in another man's grace
as they share with their neighbour and grieve with their friend
and talk with the lonely and give, do not lend.
It is then that I see you as you're meant to be,
in him, her and us; in they, them and we.'

Happy Chinese New Year." William Forde: February 8th, 2016.

February 7th, 2016.

7/2/2016

Thought for today:
"When youth has passed us by and all our wealth, possessions and income have gone, along with our good looks, influence and station in life, what remains? When our young ones have flown the nest and have nests of their own to feed in different parts of the world: when our bones start to creak, our legs grow weak, our hair turns grey and our grey matter no longer turns our thoughts like they once did, what do we do? When our stomach of fulfilment hangs low in resignation, our wardrobes no longer hold clothes that hang fittingly on us, and when the time on our hands is now more than past memories could ever fill: do we sit in the rocking chair of regret looking out our window? No we don't, for that is the best time of all to open up one's throttle, throw caution to the wind and 'go for it'. Even oldies can be boldies when it comes to having fun!" February 7th, 2016.