Great British Bake Off humble pie

The sweet, sweet taste of humble pie - truthfully I'd prefer mine with a quenelle of ice-cream or perhaps some crème anglaise please, but let's not get all Mastercheffy!

OK, I'll admit that I was, shall we say, a bit sceptical about the move of Great British Bake Off from Auntie Beeb to the 'wild child' that is Channel Four, but I'm pleased to say my fears were unfounded, and I'm adult enough to admit it.

Yes, it's not quite the same - although Prue does a reasonably good impression of Mary Berry, and Noel and Sandi could morph into Mel and Sue with a change of wardrobe and different haircuts.  In fact, Sandi's floral bomber jacket in episode one was taken straight from the Berry school of dressing if I'm not mistaken.

But happily I can report that the main concept remains unchanged, the tent is the same, and they still have the fancy Neff ovens with no perceptible controls and hideaway doors which make most of our ovens at home look clumpy and old-fashioned - and people still fail to switch them on correctly.

Paul remains that mixture of twinkly blue-eyes and badger grey, dispensing the Hollywood handshake with the similar rarity of unicorn manure, so I can just about get over the other cast changes and the adverts which annoyingly pop up at around 15 minute intervals, usually at key-critical moments.

Because, ultimately, it's all about baking.  It's about 12 ordinary people, not professional cooks, creating culinary alchemy with flour, eggs, butter and sugar - plus a few other ingredients, and a lot of time, effort, hugging and tears of frustration and/or relief.

We sometimes need to be transported and cocooned in a world where cakes and baking are a form of escapism, and we can forget about the various horrors on the news, even if it is just for an hour.  Well, better make that an hour and a quarter now, because of those pesky aforementioned adverts.

The end of an era...

I've sometimes mused on the workings of the honours system in this country, not that it's ever going to personally bother me much, I'm sure.

But when David Beckham had his little tantrum about not getting a knighthood, it did make me wonder why on earth would anyone think they actually deserved such an honour?

In my mind, the people that really should get such an award are the ones who would be the least likely to seek it out and would be genuinely humbled if they did.

Can I ask a question here - can you actually nominate somebody to be considered for the honours' list, or how does it all work?

I can think of countless people who will probably never get the recognition they deserve, but who genuinely make a difference to the lives of others each and every day.

It's often the little things, that some people take for granted and perhaps don't even notice, that help and can make a huge difference.

People who take the time to chat to a lonely person, take shopping to the housebound, find time in their busy lives to take an interest in their local community and just pitch in and help out wherever needed.

Julie, Mike and Sam who have run my local shop and Post Office for the past twenty years are at the heart of our community.  They go over and above the role of shopkeepers - if I listed out all their good deeds I could take over this whole paper. 

They have always been there for us, and have worked tirelessly seven days a week, always cheerful and there to lend a helping hand and a sympathetic ear - genuinely good and kind people.

The time has come for them to retire, and I can honestly say that our community will be totally bereft without them. 

So thank you from the bottom of our hearts, and if I could nominate people for an honour, they would be at the top of my list.

A handbag...

Now that bag searches are becoming a regular feature of everyday life, I really need to think about tidying mine out on a more regular basis.

I guess I'm not alone though in toting a bag that's more like a portable life support system, the contents of which could deal with most minor emergencies.

I'm pretty sure that pre-dog and child it was much lighter.  Once dogs arrived into my life, my bags, pockets etc became receptacles for poo bags and gravy bones.

Then after arrival of daughter, the bags got bigger and the contents far greater.  She's much older now, but I'm still carrying baby wipes - as a parent I have discovered that these have a myriad of uses, including removal of seagull poo at the seaside from hair and clothes, and creature guano from an invertebrate at Bugtopia who kindly deposited on husband's pale blue jeans.

Unsurprisingly, they never put that on the packaging do they?  Further evidence that they perhaps aren't the best thing for babies' sensitive skin.

When we're away on holiday my bag gets even bigger and heavier, as I seem to be the one left carrying camera, sunblock, water, snacks, plasters, etc.

In fact, the last time my bag was searched, it was packed to the gunnels with holiday stuff.

I apologized to the man who was searching each and every pocket and compartment as thoroughly and sensitively as he could, given the circumstances.

He told me not to worry as he'd seen far worse.  He then dropped his voice to a confidential tone and told me that one handbag he'd searched had an item that the lady in question should really have left at home in her bedside cabinet - and I don't think he meant Lavender pillow spritz, painkillers or Vicks VapoRub, which is what's in mine!

Thus reassured, I collected my bag and made a note to self that no matter how embarrassed you are about the tidiness and/or contents of your bag, there will always be somebody, somewhere with something far worse.

Working from home

I'm not going to lie to you, working from home has its advantages.

There's the fact I can work in my slippers.  No more cramming my feet into high-heeled shoes or boots just because they look good.  The downside of this is that my feet appear to have grown because they are no longer restricted, but that's a small price to pay. 

Then there's the fact that I can make a cup of tea or go to the loo whenever I like.  No more raising my hand in the air to be relieved - as in somebody take over my desk or permit me a leave of absence rather than anything more unpleasant or complicated than that, in case you were wondering.

I suspect the day will come though when some workers will be given commodes and expected to carry on whilst in situ, but hopefully not in my lifetime.  Although as my pension age keeps on moving further away, I fear that I may never actually retire and this may become my reality!

I can also plan my work around daughter's school day/holidays - this is probably the best feature, and truthfully should feature higher in the list but for the fact that I like the freedom of slippers and 'comfort breaks'.

The long school summer holidays does make you appreciate Teachers more though doesn't it?  They look after our little darlings for nearly eight hours a day, every weekday, during term time.  No wonder they need a six week break.

The major downside of working from home is the regular visitation of delivery drivers.  Admittedly, sometimes the only human contact I have during the day other than family members, but our conversations are very one sided and usually consist of variations on the theme of 'Parcel... neighbour... sign... thanks.'

And the most bizarre delivery of which I've taken charge?  Ten sacks of washing powder.  I kid you not - I'm guessing an e-Bay bulk-purchase bargain, which literally filled my porch until retrieved much later that day.  Still, it made the house smell 'cotton fresh'!

Old People's Home For Four Year Olds

We know that not all ideas and imports from America are good - I'm thinking guns, gangs, some fast foods and portion sizes, the over commercialisation of Christmas and Hallowe'en, beauty pageants for kids, Donald Trump and his ever-changing team of advisers, to name just a few.

But I think they may be onto a winner with the idea of having children visiting elderly people in care homes.

Channel Four's 'Old People's Home For Four Year Olds' had me smiling and weeping in almost equal measure.

I knew before watching it would probably be emotional, but it was also totally uplifting and convinced me that this is one American import that we should embrace.

Pre-schoolers spending time in care homes has worked successfully in the USA for over 20 years, and has proved beneficial for both age groups.

In the UK we saw a group of four-year olds heading to St Monica Trust care home near Bristol to spend time with the residents, being creative, playing games, going for walks in the grounds - which looked much nicer than many country house hotels I've stayed in.

They were also given some duck eggs to hatch, and the sheer delight on the faces of both young and old as the chicks emerged was a joy to behold.

Some of the elderly residents had been rated as being depressed, and one never smiled, but after a while she was grinning from ear to ear as a four-year old grabbed her hand and dragged her off to help with the latest activity.

Hamish, an elderly chap with an artificial leg, initially refused to get out of his chair and couldn't see the point of the whole project, but ended up laying on the floor playing sleeping lions with the children.

A new lease of life is what the older residents received, but what about the children?

They enjoyed talking, playing, laughing, colouring, reading and discussing the duck chicks pooping - because that's what kids do.  We have much to learn from the wisdom of four year olds.