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

Ref: those videos 25/02/2015

Thanks, Accro Delajupe, for your comment to last weeks blog.

Yes, I (we) enjoyed the videos you referred to us last November – very interesting.

For those who missed these at the time and my December response, here they are again-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jm17mXOoscU (The German one)

http://www.mitele.es/programas-tv/21-dias/temporada-2/programa-10/ (Spanish)

http://nemesistv.info/video/YD7D5X1OWKAH/21-jours-aveugle# (French)

A very attractive Spanish girl for a start. Chris and I sat for the whole hour in his office watching this. Only wish we could understand Spanish though!!

One (of many possible) comments – I was always worried in the old days that if I wore eye-patches, over both eyes of course, as all three do in the videos, the patches would show at the edges if I wore darkened glasses over them – as they do in fact in the videos. In those circumstances, it does not matter, but with me, out by myself posing as a blind woman, I wouldn't want others to see the patches, thus giving me away as a fraud.

In the German video, the eye patches are interesting having this black inner lining. What is it made of? It does look as if it might be uncomfortable but, as you say, possibly more efficient in excluding all light. That would appeal to me.

The shot where she appears to be standing alone in the street and then raises her dark glasses, exposing her patches to any onlookers is different. The patches don't look uncomfortable in that shot.

I now wish I could understand German. It would be interesting to hear why they are undertaking this simulated blindness.

Then the French one, although somewhat different lands us with the same language problem!

Anyone found anything like these videos, but in English?!

Jane.

So far so good, but.....?

Chris tells me that I have been blogging for a year now and made 27 blogs, about one a fortnight!

As you will have gathered, I write these on the afternoon that I 'work' as a 'temp' in his office, blindfolded for most of the remaining time to entertain us both!

I am running out of ideas though and it may be difficult to contribute, even only once every two weeks ( I set out at the start to make it a weekly blog but that hasn't worked out, it seems)

Any suggestions in our comment column would be most welcome or even to me at – me_blindfolded@ yahoo.co.uk - if you are shy of using the blog response.

Jane

11-feb-2015

Each January at home, one of us has to take down the Christmas decorations which my husband carefully and painstakingly put up before the festival. Traditionally, it has to be done by Twelth Night, which this year fell on the first Monday that husband went back to the office, so the task, as usual, fell to me. I don't mind this at all and have been doing it for some years now – it's easier when he is out of the way for the day - and it means also that I can do it in a most enjoyable manner : blindfolded!

I can bring forward my Friday routine which has had to be postponed for some weeks over the Christmas period, but instead of the usual house-keeping tasks and with no piano tuition to fit in, I will take down the decorations instead.

So, soon after husband has disappeared down to the station and having checked my breakfast and lunch arrangements (and my diary for that matter!), I bandage my eyes securely in the manner I've described from time to time. I have been studying the decorations carefully over the last few days, standing in front of the Christmas tree for instance to count and commit to memory the items hanging on it, and together with the paper chains and ornaments, most of which are conveniently pinned to the picture rails (wooden strip around the room about seven feet off the ground on which pictures are supposed to be hung in old-fashioned houses like ours.

So, on that Monday back in January, I make a start (having by then been blindfolded for a couple of hours already). The tree is relatively easy, so I stand close to it, finding the baubles and dropping them into a box at my feet. I count carefully but there is always two or three at the end which take a bit if groping about to locate.

Then the more difficult part. Again relying on memory, and standing on the Kitchen stools that I have moved in and being just the right height for me, I feel my way about, carefully unfix the dawing pins which I put painstakingly into a pocket in my apron. Painstakingly is an appropriate word here, I have trod very painfully on to dropped drawing pins in past years. I just let the chains drop onto the floor for the time being and clear up after.

I used to put each one separately into a box in the middle of the room, but found that I got dis-orientated very easily, losing my way back to the next chain..

There is that particular buzz which I hope I share with some of you who read this blog. That is being blindfolded and thinking I have found my way, by feel only, to a particular place, and then I am surprised to find that I am not at all where I was expecting to be. I might sometimes even have difficulty finding out where I actually am! As I said in a recent blog, I can get myself lost in my own home! Not that I mind when dismantling the decorations but more than once does use up more time than I intend. This year I finished and tidied away in time for my lunch which, like any Friday morning, I eat before having to reluctantly remove my blindfold.

Husband came home that evening, moved the Christmas tree outside and pointed out that I had left a bell behind the sofa. Well done me, I thought.

Jane.

Happy (belated!) New Year 28/01/2015

I hope you all had a nice Christmas break as we did here at home. But no blindfolding at all. Chris's wife and my husband don't know of our mutual pre-occupation with blindfolding and we are quite happy that it remains that way, but it does have its limitations. My other blindfold enthusiast contact, Lucy as I call her for this blogging purpose, was away with family elsewhere and there was obviously no 'bird-watching' outings with my other friend who believes that I am really blind and seems happy to act as my companion and guide.

So it was with some pleasure when husband returned to his work, disappearing for the day up to his London office and I was free at last to return to my normal routine with visits to Chris's office Wednesday afternoon where his secretary always takes the afternoon off and I take her place answering the phone and making the tea, all blindfolded! This is where I am now and where I always deal with this blog first before having my eyes bandaged at around 3 o/clock by my more than willing brother. The other weekly routine is being blindfolded at home on Fridays for my household chores and piano practice. But you've read all this before, of course. That week after the New Year had a different blindfolding experience, which as it is almost 3 o/clock now, I will describe next week.

Jane