New local site

Courtesy of the JEP I found a new Jersey forum called the Channel Islands Online Community. I have done so many searches for sites from Jersey, or the Channel Islands (did you know there are some Channel Islands in California (see image above)? Oh you did huh?) how did I miss one. Makes me wonder what else I have missed.

Squished

We went to the Opera House tonight to see Dial M for Murder. Very impressive - much better than the review in the JEP sounds. I overheard lots of praise as we made our way out. But the seats are so squished together. We were first row dress circle tonight, able to look down at everyone sitting with coats and bags bundled on their laps, struggling if someone needed to pass them. We had sweets with us, and there was nowhere to park them. I couldn't help but think affectionately of the seats at Cineworld, where there is ample room, and well as little cubbies for drinks/sweets on each seat. In my seat, which was verging sideways on the stage, I had to twist slightly sideways to get a good view, but doing that made the arm of the chair dig into me.

Term time holidays

Front page of the JEP last night was the information that 11,000 school days have been missed by children taken on holiday, taken out of school by 2,500 parents - 1/5 of parents.

So, on average, each Jersey school child was away from school on holiday for less than one day last year. Wow, aren't we doing well! Not that anyone would know if form the tone of the article.

Looking at it that 2,500 parents had 2 children each, that's only slightly over 2 days off in a year for their children. Even if they only had one child each that is just over 4 days each, a lot less than the 10 days suggested as a maximum allowance without Education department approval.

I do not see why this is considered a problem.

It would be useful to know how many of the children taken away were in reception class and how many studying for exams this year. The impact of the time off is not going to be the same for both age groups.

Schools do value the benefits of travel, which is why there are such things as school trips. Travel is educational, particularly for Jersey children who may never have seen a train or a city except on TV. I have found that my children's teachers are enthusiastic about them travelling and ask the children to share their opinions on where they have been with the class. We all know that compared to the UK Jersey people have to travel for longer and more expensively to take the same holidays, so doesn't it make sense that we have slightly more flexibility in order to give our children the same advantages that they can give theirs?

Another consideration is that some people cannot take holidays in the school holidays as that is their most demanding work time - hoteliers must be included in this group, so we need to think about whether as a tourist island we make allowances for that.

All in all, I think it is amazing that the amount of holiday time off taken in term time is so little, and it shows that parents do take the education of their children seriously, as they should do - parents are legally responsible for ensuring that their children are educated, not the Education department.

Zoo

We had a lovely trip to the zoo in the beautiful weather yesterday. I have yet to hear anyone saying "went up to Durrell yesterday", that place will always be the zoo to my generation.

It was a good trip. We sat mesmerised through the snake talk, the kids got to stroke a Colombian rainbow boa, and we had a very pleasant snack in the cafe which was bulging with boisterous kids. The maned wolves circuited their enclosure as a special treat for us, and we caught the lemurs being given their dinner.

The trip will probably be the highlight of our half-term.

Yummy

We have tried some more Lincolnshire sausages from Classic Herd, which were less herby, and absolutely melt in the mouth delicious.

They also sell beefburgers, and the whole family prefer them - they are beefy and juicy and, well, just the best.

We hope Classic Herd do well and continue to expand their range.

Internet shopping.

There was a fairplay article in Wednesday's JEP about Patrick O'Lynn buying a tile cutter online, and saving himself £500 and a wait of two weeks for the item. And it was delivered to his door.

Patrick put a lot of work into buying this product, he knew exactly what he wanted, even down to the model number, he checked out all of the local stores, and spent an hour online before he found what he wanted at a price he was prepared to pay.

If he had been in the UK, he would probably have had to order the goods online then too, the only difference being that delivery might well be cheaper, or free, and he would have to pay VAT.

Internet shopping is touted as meaning the death of local stores, but even before the Internet people used catalogues to shop for goods unavailable in the island, or organised shopping trips to France, England, or yes, even America.

I hear a lot about how the Internet is going to change the face of traditional shopping, but what is so traditional about shopping? Not all that long ago it used to be the custom for some sellers to hawk their goods on doorsteps.

A tile cutter may be a good proposition for buying online, but some goods just are not suited to the Internet. Clothes are sold online, but most people still want to feel the material and try the goods on when they clothes shop. People want to look under the hood at a second hand car. People want to squeeze their loaf and sniff their melons.

Food and drink

I had a first visit to "Waves" yesterday. Due to various commitments we found ourselves child free between the hours of 5 and 6 and needing to eat. Waves, which seems to be open all day seemed a good place to go, but when we got there we found that 5pm is not the best time to require food - lunch is over, afternoon tea has just ended, and dinner has an hour before it begins.

We decided on a coffee and cake, and a very late dinner at home. Except there was no cake. There were several very rich looking deserts, which we passed on. I had a latte, but it was dreadful, very small and bitter. I mostly drink latte as a take away, but the few occasions that I have had it in a cafe or restaurant it has been served in a tall glass. Here is was served in a mug. I could not drink it, so we were out so quickly that we had time to go into the café at the Power House and enjoy a lovely latte, in a glass, with a massive choice of cake and biscuits. Had we only headed there first we would have been able to enjoy what looked like some delicious meals as well.

We will probably return to Waves as the specials board looked enticing, but the prices seem rather high for a place sadly in need of a good sweeping.

Opera House woes

Last night I was shivering in the audience watching Tunes of Glory. The opera house was a wee bit on the cold side, and as the play is set in winter, it wasn't long before I was cold through and through. The actors smoke on stage at time. I wonder if there is an exemption for the new non-smoking law that allows that, or if we were watching the law being broken?

I did feel for the actors in their kilts on such a cold night.

Standing on buses

Does it matter that some kids have to stand on the buses? After all, as Deputy de Faye says, we all did it when we were young - he makes the point that he came to no harm.

It matters if the aim is to encourage more children on the buses.

I would hazard a guess that some parents do not have much choice about sending their kids to school on the bus because they work and cannot take the children to school themselves. But that is not true of everyone. I collect my kids from school, so if encouraging more kids on the buses is an aim - and how can it not be when the transport policy is to reduce emissions and congestion - then I represent the group of people to be converted to the idea of putting my kids on the bus.

But I have a problem with buses. My kids travel to school at the moment in a car that is fitted with seat belts. By law my kids must be seated and strapped in whilst I am driving them, and I drive particularly carefully when carrying my kids in the car. In a bus there are no seat belts, and they may not have a seat - and I have vivid memories of the behaviour of bus drivers that makes me hesitant about putting the safety of my children into the hands of a bus driver. I recall one driver slamming on the brakes to teach a child a lesson when she kept standing up and dancing in the aisle when the bus was in motion. She flew down the bus, and down the steps. After a few seconds, she dragged herself panting back up the steps, and crawled to her seat, and he continued driving. Another shocking experience on a bus when I was older has made me additionally wary of bus drivers.

For me to put my kids on the buses, I have to see that they would be safer than I and my contemporaries were. And they wouldn't be. So I will continue to drive them.

Winter

We seem to have had our winter last week. Prior to that I had been wondering if it was worth while keeping the heating on as the temperatures were keeping so high, and looking at the lovely pair of gloves I was given for Christmas and wondering if I would wear them this year. Then the temperatures suddenly dropped to 1 to 3 degrees. On one memorable walk on the beach I was hailed on viciously for the last fifteen minutes whilst returning to the car, and even with gloves, hat and scarf I was sooooo cold and numb. And then, just when I had got into the habit of adding the necessary layers, the temperatures went back up.

Was that it?

The green, green grass of home

I know it's been a mild winter. I know it's been a wet winter. But the lush emerald green of fields, not just now, but through the winter, has really surprised me.

Recycling

I have had a think about recycling. Recycling basically means finding another use for an item instead of disposing of it. Recycling is so linked to waste disposal that I need to understand more about waste disposal before I can progress on my understanding of all the issues with recycling.

Meanwhile, here are a few links:

Jersey government sites:

"Wacky Waste Facts"

Full detail of waste disposal and recycling services

Energy from waste

May 2005 Solid Waste strategy

Energy from waste project FAQ

Waste Management

Waste Management Part 2

Waste Management Part 3

Waste Management Part 4

Waste Management Part 5

Waste Management Part 6

Waste Management Part 7

I thought 14.6 of the Waste Management (Island Plan 2002) covered most of my concerns, which are broadly that the whole thing needs to be looked at form an island perspective:

"The decision whether to recycle materials or not depends upon a number of factors, including the availability of raw materials, energy consumption in collection and processing and any environmental implications. It is counter-productive to recycle if doing so has a greater impact upon the environment than disposing of the waste. Furthermore, a recycling scheme that might be cost-effective in the UK might not be viable in Jersey if the material has to be shipped out for recycling, even if there is considerable capacity to export materials in the ships going to the UK. The local market for recycled goods is another important consideration – for certain materials the economics of recycling become marginal and other waste management options further down the ‘waste hierarchy’ may be more appropriate."

I shall read further.

Smoking Laws

There is a letter in the paper today from a very disgruntled truck driver, who cannot now smoke in his truck, as it is his workplace.

Hurrah!

I bet his driving has improved now he is no longer: carrying a burning stick, and passing it from hand to hand to tap out the ash; bending over his lighter to light a fresh "ciggie"; opening his window (one hand) to toss out the filter (held in his other hand); shaking his next fag out of the packet; trying not to burn his leg on the end of his "ciggie" when turning a sharp corner. I was the only non smoker in my family, and three out of the four of them smoked whilst driving. Only one continues to smoke, and now does not smoke whilst driving, having come to appreciate the risks. Trust me, being their passenger is a lot less stressful now.

Remember the "Hands Off" campaign? It appears to have had it's 15 minutes, but it was always unbalanced, as evidenced by the name. Surely the idea is that people should have hands on the wheel? At the height of the "Hands Off" campaign I saw a truck bombing round Beaumont filter in turn from Beaumont Hill, heading into town, steering left handed - the driver's right hand wrapped round a baguette, and I saw a woman driving through town to drop her child off from school, and as she crawled forward (with pedestrians hovering on the edges of the pavement watching for a tiny break in the traffic to squeeze through) she was leaning up close to the rear view mirror applying mascara.

Free Jersey linked to an article about how it is more dangerous to drive for a living than it is to smoke. Maybe the ban on smoking in the workplace will actually improve the risk for some employees who drive all day (or night) in Jersey, improving the mortality rates for both smokers and drivers.

Where to buy

I have been looking for a washing up bowl. The only place I could find one was in Woolies. None of the supermarkets seemed to carry them, and "The First Place" is closed, hopefully temporarily. I kept thinking that there are 80,000 to 90,000 people in this island, making lots of households with at least one washing up bowl per household. Is Woolies the only place to sell them?

I can buy a washing up bowl online, if I want to spend £40 plus on a designer article. There are some places that sell your basic washing up bowl, but the postage would double the cost of the bowl.

Maybe this is why there is such a lack of the bowls for sale in the island, they take up a lot of shelf space, and make little profit.

Incidentally, whilst researching online I found a 2000 BBC report on bacteria in the kitchen in which an "infection expert" spoke of the bacteria breeding capabilities of washing up bowls. He also said that washing up should be done with bleach. What a yucky thought. Bleach may get rid of germs, but when it comes to lumps of dirt, it just makes them invisible. I bet he makes his wife do it though.

05/01/2007 Update. Walking through the co-op in town heading to the furniture department I noticed they carry cream washing up bowls. The Woolies ones are silver. So, now I have found a choice of colours at least! I hadn't thought to look in the co-op homeware store.

Sausages

We tried the sausages from the Classic herd farm shop. Yep, they were very meaty, and no gristle. I think they were Lancashire sausages, and they were very herby. Personally, I prefer a plain sausage, herby meat always makes me think that the herbs are disguising bad meat, but my partner is a fan, so that is what we had. We have not been able to try any other sausages as the abattoir has not been open. I guess it proves how fresh the meat it!

The milk is cheaper than the supermarket as well. The milk is sold in one or two litre plastic jug/bottles, which I like. Far less messy.

I saw the calves my partner mentioned.

Happy New Year

Hoping that 2007 is good for Jersey.

Classic Herd

On the positive side, my partner managed to snaffle the last pack of bacon from the farm shop, and also brought home some milk and sausages for us to try.

On the negative side my partner spotted three bull calves in crates on the farm, and wondered if this means that there is veal being produced on the farm. The crates were big enough for the animals to turn round.

We don't support veal production though - if an animal is to be kept, keep it healthy. Restricting movement so that muscles do not develop properly hardly seems healthy.

I know that there are extremes of veal production - calves head tied so they cannot turn or lay (who end up standing in their own urine, damaging their legs and feet) and calves fed an iron deficient diet to keep them anemic and their flesh pale. I know the UK has laws preventing the worst cases of this treatment to calves, which is why UK veal is not as white or tender as veal produced in some other countries, but I have no idea what the laws are in Jersey.

Beautiful bacon

I rarely eat bacon. My partner enjoys it, on occasion. I think we will both be eating it more regularly now, as tonight we tried the bacon I bought from Darren Quenault's farm shop. It seems wrong to call it the same name as the flimsy, watery tasteless stuff I normally buy in supermarkets even though I make an effort to buy flavourful bacon (buying Duchy Originals where I can, or something from the Waitrose "Taste the Difference" range).

The Quenaults' bacon doesn't look that brilliant on the fridge shelf - the colour is good but the bacon is vacuum packed, so the slices are shapelessly mushed together. The rashers are quite streaky as well, something we normally avoid, but that bacon tasted indescribably good. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. I find myself longing for an excuse to try the bacon in a bacon sandwich - the flavour is intense enough to cope with the bread. The bacon had a good shelf life, but it definitely wont need it in our house.

Shopping Locally

My Mother visited the Island this weekend, and after having lunch at Big Vern's last week, I had noticed that their plates and mugs are produced at a local pottery located at 7 Belvedere Terrace. I used to live at 7 Belvedere Terrace, so whilst my Mum was over we visited the pottery and I bought a beautiful dish for grating garlic or ginger upon. Theresa was there and as well as talking about the house and how it has changed over the years she introduced us to her creations. I wanted to buy lots, but being stoneware the pottery is not cheap and at this expensive time of year I could not treat myself to anything more than the dish I bought.

I notice that the pottery is a member of Genuine Jersey. The Genuine Jersey website has a large list of members upon which I notice Classic Herd Ltd, the Quenaults' business. I used the rare opportunity of having some free time last week to pop into the Quennaults' farm shop where I was surprised to find a large number of luxury biscuits and relishes. A farm shop seems an odd place to buy Christmas presents, but there you go! I did buy some bacon, soup, spare ribs and the Jersey Brie and those we have so far eaten were good. The Brie has a much more solid texture than Brie from France or Somerset, but was very creamy. The farm shop is quite large and when I visited I was the only person buying, although they were re-stocking the sausages which indicated plenty of customers earlier. I do wish the Quenaults every success, and will be shopping there when I can, although I can not see myself buying many of the luxury biscuits, sauces etc. I am hoping that next year they may sell new potatoes that have not been through the grader.

Grading new potatoes bruises and dries them, and should be made illegal. Potatoes that have not been through the grader are more tender and seem to stay fresh longer than those that have, but I have a dreadful job finding any. The only way to be sure to get some is to befriend someone growing them! Eating potatoes that have not been graded is like eating the potatoes we enjoyed as children.

Another service award

This time to Boots where a member of staff noticed how much I was spending and suggested I take my Boots card to a card machine they have in the store whereupon I printed out a voucher entitling me to £4 worth of Boots points if I spend more than a certain sum that day. The lady, who was not English/Jersey, was very helpful in other ways as well, but they are too boring to detail. Thank you Boots for the £4 extra sitting on my card. It will come in useful in January.