THE HENWATCH BLOG

                                                    What in the name of everything that's right is going on in the U.S ? Now I am hearing that the Native American Apache tribes are gonna be screwed again by the your government . Seemingly Congress has decided in its infinite wisdom to give 2,400 acres of National Forest in Arizona to a foreign mining company . What makes this more outrageous is the fact that this land is ancestral homeland to the Apache natives .                                                    It starts getting a little crazy when you find out who exactly is behind all this .The handover of a large tract of Tonto National Forest to a company called Resolution Copper a subsidiary of Australian / English mining company called Rio Tinto , which co-owns with Iran a uranium mine in Africa and which is 10% owned by the Chinese .                                                    There is an authorization act for fiscal year 2015 ,which includes the giveaway of Apach

                                                       Good afternoon , and maybe good morning depending on where you are . So come on how are you all today ? Are we wrecked from all the Christmas festivities ? Have we extended our overdrafts on our accumulative credits cards ? Is the sun shining more brightly in your neck of the woods , or has the whole thing just gotten too much to handle ? These are the questions we need to be asking ourselves . Are we right to blow any amount of money in the pursuit of Holiday Happiness ? Or should we water down  the amount of money spent  giving the appearance of prosperity ? Because looking at it prosperous we are not ! Comfortable we are not ! And so its ok for once in the year to give off the look of being prosperous ? METHINKS NOT !                                                       Why ? Well as soon as the new year has come and gone you are straight back into having to pay for your facade , you are suddenly made aware with your credit ca

                                                          Today six of my grandchildren came to visit us both , there was Scott , Jamie , Billy & Lily , there was Zoe and also Alannah . I would like to thank their parents who were there Eve & Ray , and daughter in law Lisa . Because we live quite a distance from each other its particularly hard to get us all together at once . Today a huge effort was made by all involved which led to having a really wonderful day . The children were an absolute joy , they behaved themselves so well it was pure joy for both my wife & I .                                                           There was so much interaction between them it was so hard to keep track of everything . We laid on the most informal dinner I have ever witnessed , and believe it or not it was a total success . When the mood is good , even if the chicken was a little overcooked there wasn't a mention of it . Its so fulfilling when you get a chance to mix with yo

                                                  I write , I sing , I cook , I F... up , I dance , I love , and I live in a way that's doable for me . All the things I have done in my life have been the things I have wanted to do . I have messed up , I have failed , I also have achieved . I am happy with who I am . I wasn't always that way , but with age comes a realization that if you're not happy with yourself now , you never will . So I have come to the conclusion that its better to be ok with yourself , than to be hard on yourself for things and possibly dreams that never came true !                                                  I have never needed or wanted approval ! If I got some , well that was just an added bonus . But in the main that was never a reason for my approach to some difficulty I may have encountered . From an early age I had no choice but to be independent , I chose that lifestyle because there was no other choice . When I was very young , I was al

                                      We had a  wonderful day today , went to visit our son and his husband for an early dinner . I nearly forgot to mention Diamond & Ruby their two French Bulldog puppies .The puppies entertained us all afternoon , leaving both of us falling around laughing .                                           The thing about French bulldogs , and with a name like that you'd think in your mind a huge dog . No , these two are small bulldogs with huge ears . They are so funny though , they need plenty of attention but you are rewarded with loving slobbering mischievous hounds ! They are still babies , and wont grow too big , but they are very funny characters !                                      I nearly forgot again , the dinner was beautiful !

                                                           So welcome back to reality , or more correctly welcome back to sanity . We had a wonderful Christmas dinner with my son and his wife and their children Zoe & Alannah . Its always nice to be in the company of children at Christmas , you can release your inner child . Everyone is so busy getting everything just right , being a grandparent without those responsibilities leaves you free to indulge in childish pursuits . I had never foreseen this in my parenting days , as my parents died before my children got a chance to know them . What a pity they didn't get the indulgence that my wife and I pour on our grandchildren .                                                           Its like they have been denied the closeness of a grandparent , and that fact kinda makes me feel sad in a way . My other grandchildren , Chris , Scott , Jamie , Billy and beautiful Lily are a bit further away from us and it makes it harder to be wi

                                                Well only three hundred and sixty four more days to Christmas , better start planning soon , its gonna come up on you so fast you won't know what hit you . Actually if you think about it its not a bad idea . Firstly all your gifts would be at knock down prices , Christmas trees and decorations would be slashed , you could get a turkey & ham and just freeze the pair of them , there you go Christmas sorted on a shoestring .                                                 You may not believe it , but there's a lot of people out there who do exactly as I've described . There is no shame in savings , nothing to be embarrassed about in being prepared . Wouldn't be my cup of tea , but who are we to criticize ? One mans savings is another mans loss , so to speak                                                 So come on tell me , how well did you do ? Did you avoid all the pitfalls yesterday ? Has your waistline increased by

                                                       Its Here at last , have a wonderful , wonderful day . After all your exertions you all deserve to relax and just enjoy the day . Its gonna go so fast , its a pity someone is not recording it , so you can look back at it in maybe two or three days time . There's bound to be loads you'll have missed . May whatever entity you follow or believe in keep you all safe and happy this Christmas ! Love always .

                                                    Sometimes in life you have to say something when someone you know goes beyond the call of duty in relation to the preparation for Christmas . While most of us were sleeping last night /this morning  a friend of hours lay awake wondering and worrying how she was gonna deal with the worry of getting everything ready ! This person is so dedicated to Christmas and her children that she woke , or maybe it would be more accurate to say she never slept , that she arose at 5AM this morning . Yes dear readers five o clock this morning . I asked the obvious question WHY ?  To which she replied so I could be there early enough to collect the biggest turkey possible . I still didn't see the sense in it , though obviously she did . Because she got her turkey and is now delirious with excitement . The children are all in bed , she can sit down and maybe watch a movie , but knowing her she will watch the movie , but she will definitely fall asle

                                                 I have just gotten some very important news , Santa seemingly has finished over the other side of the world and is on his way here . Its not official but I have it on good authority that it is the case ! He's  getting his second wind now , the reindeers have been fed while Santa took a sherry and mince pie break . All is well and it looks like Santa will be on time , he is such a wonder he never lets any deserving children down . So if there are any children out there who are on the nearly naughty list , there's still time to get those brownie points before he arrives . Not one to spread any rumours , but I am thinking all the children of the world have done their mothers and fathers proud and the naughty list has been scrapped for lack of entries . Well done to one and all !                                                  So now its time to go to bed and sleep , no peeking from beneath the covers , no getting up early , no try

                                                 Its getting so close now , you can almost hear the bells ringing and the reindeers swooshing across the sky . I'm sure I saw something earlier , it must have been himself on his way to Australia or someplace like that , got me kinda worried he seemed to be doing somersaults and turns in the sky . Maybe he's just having a wonderful , wonderful time ? The children are now in Super Santa mode , there's no containing them they are like greyhounds waiting for the traps to open . Soon children soon !                                                 I do love Christmas , its a great great time . Its so not a time to ponder on what might have been , or things we could have done . Its a time to look at all of our achievements and be blessed we are still alive . It really saddens me when people just keep going back to their past , especially if somewhere in there they were a little dissatisfied at Christmas or they didn't get the r

                                                     So two more sleep overs before the great arrival , and in some cases only one depending on where you're located in the world . Tomorrow is going to be one busy day for parents everywhere , making sure Santa has a good landing when he arrives in all our your sitting rooms . You better make sure the fire is out , you don't want him burning himself . Also you better keep it light on the sherry he has a long way to go and you don't want him taking a wrong turn somewhere he won't be able to get out of . Its no wonder he rests as  much as he does , the amount of energy he uses you could light up an entire city with . A truly wondrous man .                                                    If you're strapped for a movie to watch with the children for Christmas eve , try out "Get Santa" you won't be disappointed its a truly magical journey . It stars Jim Broadbent , Rafe Spall and a clattering of other Eng

                                                      Never ever would I be known for blowing my own trumpet , but in this particular case I honestly feel I have to . As anyone who knows me will tell you , I do love my food ! But more importantly I love cooking my own food , and with that in mind  I felt I needed to share this with the masses . I always find if you can pass on even be it a little useless information , someone , somewhere may just find this information useful .                                                      So off I went shopping this morning , but firstly I needed my hair cut . I went to my local Polish Barber who shapes and styles my hair wonderfully , he knows my hair ! And so I always give him a free rein with what the result should be , he never disappoints . Anyway hair is done . Let me continue .                                                     As I said earlier I went shopping , for just bread and some cigarettes I thought . I entered the supermarket

                                                  So now you nearly have everything sorted , what are you going to do to keep yourself occupied between now and the big day ? There are  so many good things you could get yourself involved in , like making sure any elderly people living close by are safe and well . Keeping a lid on the children's impatience for Christmas , now that's a hard one !                                                   You can't just send them to bed and dream that they will wake up Christmas morning and your sanity is saved . Though to be honest it would be nice ? No you're all gonna have to be super cool , appear stress free so you'd  better grin and bear it .Good luck with all that , that's all I'll say . You're gonna need it !

                                                  Its Saturday morning , you've just woken up and the plans you have for the day are mindblowing . Breakfast is had , croissant being the food of choice today and was not disappointed . Alright lets do what we planned to do ( be it all in my head ) , clean the fire , load the fire , hoover the house and its all done .                                                   Now I can wash round the side entrance to the house , thats Lucy's (my dog) running patch that's normally filled with you know what each day , well she does have to go somewhere , and it does have to be cleaned . That done the car will be my next port of call . Its dirty inside and out , its needs some T.L.C and today its gonna get it by hook or by crook .                                                   I have everything connected , the waterhose to the pressure washer and it plugged in to the electrical supply , Have my bucket with sponge and scourer , just i

                                           Good day to all the living and the dead ! I hope your preparations for Christmas are coming along nicely . And today of all days PANIC SATURDAY ! Where do they get these names from , probably from some old Christmas Almanac someone unearthed while cleaning out their garage . So ok lets all panic , well it is Panic Saturday , now how shall we panic ? Oh yes I almost forgot , remind yourself to buy extra bread for Christmas , at least six bottles of spirits , maybe ten crates of beer ( just in case ) extra sausages and bacon for Christmas morning and loads of SPROUTS . Now have I remembered everything ? Alright lets panic some more .                                          I must buy myself at least three new outfits , and maybe two pairs of shoes , that I really don't need . I seen an advertisement for a 50 inch tv , for only 500 euro , I don't need it , but I WANT IT ! Its panic Saturday you see ! We all have to max the credit cards

                                                 What the f... is going on in the world ? I wake up this morning to the news of another slaughter of children . But this time terrorists weren't to blame , it appears now that their own mother slaughtered all eight of them . Stabbed them all to death , in a quiet little suburb of Cairns Australia . What in the name of everything that matters is going on in the world ? What makes a mother presumably take a knife from her kitchen and slaughter all of her children ? What happens to a mind that allows yourself destroy all you have grown and reared ? What straw that broke her camels back could make her even consider such an outrage ? It doesn't bear thinking about , and maybe we will never know the circumstances surrounding this tragic affair . And sometimes to be honest you are better off not knowing , because delving into the depths of despair as an exercise of understanding , can be an awful deep hole to climb out of .            

                                                             Am getting to the stage where everything I think about is just pure twaddle . No me neither !  It just came to me , no great reason or need , but I thought it just sounded perfect . Twaddle , twaddle , twaddle there you go . Maybe its something you could use in your every day existence , maybe not .                                                              I am finding it harder to focus on anything right now , I really wanted to just ignore my blogging for maybe one day and let it lie , but something told me get your head together and think . Think creatively if you can , use your common sense and just invent something . Something that never happened maybe  but was a great subject for a blog . You know the way people get roped in by information that is not necessarily true . I mean the news media do it all the time , they use all sorts of plays to get you involved . They create great scandal events , when there is none ,

                                              Now where the hell would you be without the things that matter most in your life ? How could you try to sustain getting up every morning just to make sure all your little dears are sent off to school , fed and watered . Only if you have all your physical and mental baggage in good order . No point trying to get stuff together if all around you is crumbling down , you need all your wits about you . You need your eagle eyes to make sure everyone is safe and not playing with something they shouldn't . Children are miracles , they are gifts sent to us on loan . We will never own them , we will never let them down intentionally , and we will always look out for them and only involve them in things we feel are safe . And so we send them to the safety of our schools !                                              Where was that safety in Pakistan ? Where was that commitment to protect those children from harm ? I can't imagine what those p

                                                      Just reading the news today , Taliban kill students in school to let the Pakistani's know the feeling of hurt and loss . Another nutter holds people hostage and kills three in siege in Australia . All in the name of God ! All in the name of freedom and continuity . All f...... senseless in my humble opinion .                                                       You wake up one morning , and you're a bit under the weather , had maybe a little too much to drink or smoke , so you're a little tetchy to say the least . Why don't I bomb the arse out of something ? That'll make me feel fulfilled , that'll stop me feeling so tetchy .  Yeah lets just kill some innocent women and children who have no defence or understanding that walking out their front door this morning will be their last . No matter I am doing it in the name of God .                                                       Now to be honest me and God

                                                         Firstly I would like to thank all those people who went out of their way to comment on some of my recent blogs . Its nice to know that some of the things I share have a theme that generally is universal .

                                                 The wife has just read my previous blog " She Said " , to say she's not a happy bunny would be an understatement ! But sometimes you have to say what you have to say . No point tormenting yourself thinking about it , just get it out there and see what happens . To be honest though not always the best advice , cause sometimes you put things out there and they kinda backfire on you . So don't be like me and let the world , or in this case your wife know what you're thinking , especially about your precious fibre optic Christmas trees , because now I have given herself a reason to remember ! Never a good thing , cause just to spite me she'll remember . Identical to Mine !

                                                     Will you survive the holiday season without witnessing a complete meltdown or someone else's ? Have you seen the signs of this meltdown , or are you experiencing the tell tale signs yourself ? Either way if you are even considering whether you are or not , chances are you've probably already begun . Now don't blame someone else for this , don't even imagine that you were somehow roped in to doing these things , because of some legendary custom . The fact is you are a member of the Christmas Meltdown Club . There are millions of members throughout the world , and they have meltdowns in all different languages . Its an International Club with no borders , and no real rules to speak of , Anything goes in the pursuit of Christmas meltdown , with the majority of members  parents .                                                      This is not a club you can retire from , you cannot pass over your membership to someone e

                                                 So what was I saying ? Now I've got it ! Yes , just finished putting up the Christmas decorations with the help of my better half . The sitting room is like a little grotto . Though I am having problems with my wife's demands for a real Christmas tree . I have one of those fibre optic trees , about 6 ft. high that gives out all sorts of colours . I like it , in fact I love my fibre optic tree , but it seems maybe its life is coming to an end . There's nothing wrong with it , it still flashes , and the kaleidoscope of colours still turns .                                                 Today I was informed though , next year is gonna be different . Am I looking forward to it ? Not really , but some things must come to an end , SHE SAID !

                                                        I've just seen a post on when people reach their sixties and stuff , and found what it had to say so true . It said simply " Its better to be outrageous , than to be outrageously boring ! Never a truer word said , and I found it very pleasing as my wife and I enter our sixties .                                                        When you start hitting the sixties all your inhibitions if you had any tend to stop influencing how you think . Couldn't do that is no longer an issue , Am too old to wear that is also not an issue . You see its really how you perceive yourself , and not how you want others to perceive you . If I wanna wear jeans & trainers so be it . If I want to wear a fedora . I'll do that also .                                                       Some people tend to think , well I've reached this time of my life , and I should portray an image of myself fitting with my age . Fitting wit

                                                   This morning I woke up very worried ! You see with Christmas just around the corner I started thinking about Santa Claus . Now I know he has been on his sabbatical for a while , and of course now he's basically up to his eyes . Its always like this and to be honest his legend and appearance on Christmas Eve and well in to Christmas morning is now a well known FACT ! Now I guess you're wondering why I highlighted fact .                                                   Well its very simple , there's a lot of parents out there that , rather than get their children upset at the fact their children will grow old enough not to believe in Santa Claus , they would rather not expose them to his EXISTENCE ! In other words deprive them of the magic that is Santa Claus , how very considerate of them ! How thoughtful of them wanting to keep their childrens minds safe from dreams of a man in a red suit coming down the chimney on Christ

                                                    Isn't it great that all the injustices and wrongdoing by people as well as governments are being highlighted and made openly available to us all for general consumption ? The days when things could be pushed underneath the carpet and forgotten , have gone . When an injustice was never heard of , a killing by the so called protectors of the peace would never see the light of day , and the media had never an idea of what was really happening ! Well those days are long gone , and if someone sneezes in Tokyo , just like their Earthquakes it is heard about ten seconds later . These are the days of immediate news , live broadcasts , and globalized networking . We twitter our support for special causes , we share information as it happens on networking sites , its called getting  involved .                                                     Now the perfect scenario would be that all the multinationals became honest and sharing . The hu

                               ,                    Sometimes its nice to have time on your own , time to catch up on yourself , time to reassure yourself that you're an ok kinda person . Time to contemplate , time to ask yourself well how am I doin ? Is this what its all meant to be ? I don't ever remember having malice in my character  , wanting to hurt anyone intentionally , and yet you find yourself questioning everything that you are . Its hard to ignore , but you also find yourself wondering about everyone else's  perception of you . I know its an ego thing , I also know the brain does play tricks on you , so much so you begin to doubt yourself . You start doubting all the decisions you have made throughout your life , and wonder if you would have done anything different . Your brain and memory can be very naughty at times , remembering a lot more things that you don't really care to remember .                                                    They can be dark t

                                                     My last blog was so very emotional , I was taken over by sheer contempt for those politicians named earlier . Not that I want to apologize , that would never cross my mind , but sometimes its just better to let it flow and get it out there . I am half wondering how others feel about it , I want to know their feelings on it , and ......................sure it doesn't matter now ! Whats done is done , and I am truly glad I wrote it !                                                     So how was your day ?

                                                       Have you ever wondered what really goes on in a politicians head ? What sort of animal are they ? What is it that makes them liars and deceivers , completely out of touch with who elected them . They are narcissistic creatures who have no interest other than lining their already bulging pockets , methinks they are the scum of the earth . Methinks there should be a law against lying politicians , and if found to be guilty , they should suffer the hardship of a hundred lashes . They should be named , as the one responsible for whatever they are found guilty of , and should be cast into oblivion by their party . Thats also assuming that the said party are honest in the first place ! You just know I am on a roll here ! You just know I am angry here . Its perfectly obvious that I have an axe to grind here , preferably on certain politicians heads . Now did you get all that ?                                                        In Ire

                                                         Well there I was sitting in a bar having a quiet drink as you do . The bar was full but I was having a quiet drink . There were dart competitions going on , there were card games going on but I was still having a quiet drink . I had a strange feeling something wonderous was about to happen and I wasn't left disappointed .                                                          In walks this Martian and makes his way to the bar , he says to the barman I want a pint of Guinness please . The barman responds by saying , do you see that sign on the wall over there that says we don't serve Martians , well the rule hasn't changed and we still don't serve Martians ! The Martian was a little bit peeved , but replied loudly , if you give me a pint I'll buy everyone a drink in the bar . Of course on hearing that the customers went wild saying , give him a pint , go on give him a pint ! The barman relented and gave him

                                                 Its pretty wild out there ! Expected winds of 100 kph , Wheelie bins are developing a life of their own , and flying back and forth across the back garden . Hope we don't have Wizard of Oz conditions , no matter the dog is strapped to the radiator !

                                                         Have you ever asked yourself , what is it that I want to be remembered by ? Has it ever occurred to you that your existence has an important part to play in not just your life , but also in the lives of many others . I have never really thought about this before and to be honest don't ask what has me thinking in this vein now . Since starting this blog many strange things have happened to me ! Nothing of maybe great consequence to others , but when its happening to you , you definitely notice any change in your behaviour and most importantly ,in  your way of thinking . Pre-blog me was quite content to vent some of my strange ideas on my wife Catherine , and that was alright because , she would do the same . Ante - blog me is not just happy being what I conceived to be the way things should be on one level , but now happy to be what I am on another level . If that makes any sense to you ?                                      

                                                     I was reading a blog on google plus , it was from a young girl , maybe 15 years old . It went something like this ,When I look in the mirror all I see is ugliness . When I walk down the street and see another girl with a good looking guy , I say to myself , why can't that be me ? When I see someone with a great figure , I would die for that figure . I walk pass this amazing house with big gardens and big windows , why can't I be living there ? I am doing so badly in school , why can't I be like other students and be good with my grades ? This is the way the blog went , and to be honest it kinda hits you hard when you see someone reaching out like that , with such a low opinion of themselves . Their self esteem is obviously very low , and they can only see a road running uphill all the time . Its a struggle !                                                     I then noticed there were maybe 5 replies to the blog , and ea

                                                        I am trying my best again for inspiration . Where's it gonna come from ? Am really digging deep , though to be honest its really hard writing about  things that aren't necessarily uplifting or positive . Negative subjects , have a tendency always to be either sad , or just downright upsetting . But in saying that they have to be spoken about , it would be so easy to be just complacent and apathetic . So when something comes up and needs to be spoken about ...........well thats exactly what should happen and needs to happen .

                                                  In my previous blog Legal Poisons , I set out my feelings about how we are poisoning ourselves with what  we are putting in to our bodies , and not to over exaggerate we are doing this day in day out .                                                   Your recommended daily intake of sugar is for men 9 teaspoons , and for women 6 teaspoons ! This is according to the A.H.A American Heart Association . There is a definite distinction between sugars that occur naturally in vegetables and fruit , and so called added sugars .                                                  The reason I am talking about this , is very simple . Last night my wife and I watched an amazing movie called " Fed Up " , its basically about how the food industry is poisoning us all with SUGAR ! And whats worse is they have created new names for sugar ,so that we can easily be confused as to their dangers .The most common added sugar is the usual table var

                                     What is it about greed in people , that makes them never want to consider the position and feelings and more importantly the safety of others ? This is a human trait that really irks me ! I understand everybody has to make a living from one source or another , but surely when you take on these jobs and positions , can  you really betray your fellow human beings . Can you without conscience deny a truth that's basically hurting , and in some cases killing other human beings ? Can you deny full knowledge of an epidemic of biblical proportions , that is making us all very sick and very complacent ? Because this is whats happening day in day out , when you consider what you are putting in to your body ! You are poisoning yourselves and your children every day of the week ! Fact !            

                                                      Three weeks ago in Tiananmen Square upwards of 600,000 Beijing citizens gathered in the Square to watch the  countdown on their  U.S Debt clock that is positioned high above the Forbidden City as it reached the 18 TRILLION DOLLAR MARK .                                                       The residents had the option to either watch it on television , or to go down to the square and watch it live and celebrate . It wasn't long that  they had to wait , and the six hundred thousand who chose to see it live celebrated with great gusto .                                                       It is estimated that their debt will be in the region of TWENTY TWO TRILLION by the year 2018 . In 2008 their own debt clock in New York City reached 10 TRILLION , and as a result the clock had to be replaced because there weren't enough digits on the existing one . How the mighty have fallen !