Well Done FRAm

I've just heard (from a neighbour who attended the Suffolk Coastal planning meeting this morning) that the applications for both greenfield developments in Framlingham, opposed by members of Fram Residents' Association, were turned down. That's a real victory for common sense. The proposals were outrageously large and the arguments so strong against the developments that this should have been a foregone conclusion but at least two committee members voted in favour of the plans. Well done and congratulations to the newly formed FRAm - a battle won but no doubt there will be appeals ahead and the war will continue. This is not the time to sit back and relax though. I've been involved in the fight and ,whilst I look forward to a summer without the upheaval that the developments would have brought to the town, I am sure that there will still be plenty to do.

Planning excitement apart, it's been another hectic week of retirement. We had to take Marion's car to Ipswich for a safety recall so took the opportunity to go to Cineworld and see Selma. It's a brilliant film and well worthy of its Oscar nomination for best film. I'm only surprised that David Oyelowo wasn't acknowledged in the nominations for his outstanding portrayal of Martin Luther King Jr. The film concentrates on just a short episode from the American Civil Rights era and it is quite difficult to realise that, within our own lifetime, people were deprived of the right to vote purely on the grounds of the colour of their skin. It's a very powerful movie and, in my opinion, a better choice for best film Oscar than the wonderful Birdman.

As a Liverpool fan I often wonder what became of ex managers and players. Few more so than the enigmatic Rafa Benitez (below) who steered us to that memorable night in Istanbul and some not so memorable nights elsewhere.

And then I saw the new ad for Grey Goose vodka at the cinema and all became clear.

On Saturday we had another cinema outing. We were in Rochester babysitting and decided that it would be a treat for our granddaughter to take her to see the new Peppa Pig movie. It's not really a movie but a string of cartoons that have already been shown on TV interspersed with introductions from a group of young presenters. There was one new fifteen minute episode but it was a bit of a rip off really to promote it as a Peppa film. Mind you our granddaughter and all the other kids in the audience didn't seem to mind.

When not at the cinema of babysitting I've been preparing an eBay listing to sell this wonderful gnome tobacco jar that I bought on eBay a few weeks ago. He's very rare and, although he's slightly damaged, I have hopes that he will fetch a fair bit more than I paid.

Better sign off now as I need to write a blog for the Residents' Association about today's success.