Solar Eclipse not seen! 25-03-2015

In last 500 years, there have been only eight total solar eclipses visible from the UK. Next one will be in 2026, so I wasn't going to miss my 'Once in a lifetime' chance last Friday, even though at 9.30 in the morning it would disrupt my regular Friday blindfolded session and, as it turned out, also Lucy's fortnightly piano lesson. So, just a little disappointed, I arranged to delay Lucy's visit until later in the morning and didn't blindfold myself at my usual Friday morning time of eight o/clock, once I know husband is safely on his train into his London office. I sat then waiting for the eclipse to start, colander an a piece of paper to hand (colander, for you people overseas perhaps!? is a stell saucepan-sized kitchen strainer – a bowl with lots of round holes) with which you can project images of the eclipsing sun through the holes onto a piece of paper.

But at 9.00 it was grey and cloudy, so thick that during the time of the eclipse it didn't even darken and, as for the birds which are supposed to stop singing and return to ttheir nests, there were none singing in the first place. Very diasppointing to those of us in the South-East of England, except curiously enough, the cloud did break up over Ashdown Forest – highish moorland not far away and the very place where I didn't see the visiting eagle when my bird-watching friend took me up there last summer. See previous blog.

Well then, I did manage to blindfold myself before Lucy arrived for her own blindfolded visit and we did spend time commisserating on the lack of seeing anything of the eclipse.

But then of course, blindfolded as we were, we were both happily eclipsed in the end!

Thanks for your recent comments, Accro delajupe and 'eyes.patched' I'll get back to those after Easter now,

Happy Easter,

Jane.

Spring has arrived perhaps 18-03-2015

Spring arrived in Southern England last week (although gone again this week!) and we had several lovely days. My bird watching companion, Tony, got in touch and I had a lovely morning out, blindsimming and bird listening. If you haven't read about these outings of mine then go to our web-site – meblindfolded.wix.com/blindsimming-lady -page 11. (together with previous blogs here). I have an old, but robust, large-keyed mobile phone which I use only for blindsimming purposes and only Chris and Tony have the number. Tony has to ring me to talk about arranging outings, knowing that it is no good sending text messages as he believes me to be completely blind – quite flattering for me after several years now with him on occasional bird 'watching' outings. Meeting him off the bus last week then, he gave me (just to hold) a large heavy book which he said was the Sussex Bird Survey Atlas, published a year ago, listing all the bird species, each with its own map and descriptions as surveyed in Sussex a few years ago by volunteers such as him and, to his pride, listing his name in an Appendix at the back together with mine!!. (So he said – I couldn't see it for myself, of course.) He said he had submitted my name together with his as I had helped so much at the time identifying bird calls and songs and there it was (he said) on page 603. I have looked in our local library since but they didn't have a copy – too specialist, they said!

I managed all the bus and walking completely blind perfectly okay, even though out of practice since my last trip out last Autumn. I'm going to try to expand the trip a bit, it's almost getting to the boring stage now.

More next time then,

Jane.

blindsimming videos continued 4-3-2015

'Eyes.patched' (thank you) suggests we make our own video! since I mentioned that we have seen none that have been in English.

The main reason I have for wishing to see one in English – from someone else, of course, not me, - is to find out, as I would have liked to do in the Spanish, German, French ones, if the blindsimming girl is doing it for a stunt, sponsorship or if she's doing it because (like me) she just really likes being blind(folded) for a period.

Sorry about all the commas and brackets!!

As for me as the subject of a video: Ha! I am far from being a good-looking girl like those in those three videos, I would be too self-conscious, and I mostly enjoy my blind-simming trips because I am alone and the fun is in finding my own way around with only occasional and unprompted help from others. If I knew there was a 'camera team' close by, it would spoil the whole thing for me – difficult to explain why but you may know what I mean?

We saw a travel film on the TV a little while ago where the subject announced that, having got to a certain point (in the African bush or somewhere), his camera team were leaving and returning to the base camp. However we carried on seeing video of him progressing on his journey! So much for real verisimilitude (I looked it up!) of such travel accounts.

Chris is, of course keen on the idea and says he has the right sort video equipment which he sometimes uses for his building project surveys but 'no way', I tell him. He says we could do a video of one of my office afternoons. Can you imagine anything more boring? Answering the phone occasionally and making the tea! It won't happen!!

Jane