Digigran

Will begin with prams- as I promised last time as this BLOG seems to keep veering off the granny stuff. Modern prams look brilliant. They have names like Elite, Mountain Buggy, Twin Sport and Expedition. I think this is a ploy to get their dads to buy them and push the baby to the park while mum gets a bit of peace. I can tell you now it won't work. My sons took an interest in my new carpet sweeper when they found out it was called a turbo something- but soon lost interest when it merely had to be pushed. Nice try though.

But they are not as easy to push as they were when my sons were babies (I bet all the digigrans say that these days). Theyare big, clumsy and heavy and hard to get up steep hills and there are so many of those in Sheffield (DID YOU KNOW SHEFFIELDERS SAY THAT SHEFFIELD WAS BUILT ON SEVEN HILLS- JUST LIKE ROME?)
Anyway most young mums don't call their baby vehicles prams now, new names for them are buggies or strollers or even travel systems (sic).
However some mums do seem to have all the bother I had when proudly pushing Alexander up one of the steepest hills in Sheffield SEE .
The other problem , beside the pram itself and cars that try to run over you and the baby just as you are easing across a road, are other people on the pavements- they walk at you and what are you supposed to do? Me, I speed up and drive straight at them and so they have to step off the pavement and not hit me. Watch out Joolz if you go strolling in the vicinity, doing deep thoughts when I am on pram patrol we may well collide.

About the new names for prams. As I am semi-retired, I often work at home now and listen to radio 4. I like human speaking voices when I am working , not music which distracts me. Have you ever heard Ring Around the Bath? I guess most of you are too busy blogging or researching or doing the bloody emails to pay attention and it is indeed very trivial -Well one of the daughters of this sit-com is having a baby and her brother' s girlfriend, Xanthe, gave a list of things you only say when you are dealing with babies, like nappies, matinee jacket, basinette, rompers, bootees etc. I think strollers and buggies are almost in this category too, though I can think of other uses for those words . It is sad that Sheffield hills get so bad a press though as in the above student comment:

Sheffield is not a particularly pretty place. Tourists would not find much
within the city itself that is pleasing to the camera lens. The countryside
nearby more than makes up for this though. The weather is another problem. It
does seem to rain a lot in that part of the world. And it gets quite chilly too.
In the surrounding countryside, mist can be a problem. It doesn't matter how
beautiful the scenery is if you can't see your hand in front of your face
because of the fog.
Another feature of Sheffield is the hills. Sheffield, like Rome, is built on seven hills. These hills were formed by the six rivers of Sheffield (told you)
The main shopping streets in the city centre are fairly flat, but head out in
any direction and you'll soon find yourself going uphill. The advantage to this
is that it makes for some great views over the city. The disadvantage becomes
evident when you are struggling up these hills with your shopping.

because walking up them keeps you fit and they guarantee, as is grudgingly admitted here, that wherever you are in Sheffield you can look up and out over roofs to somewhere green to head for.
Well enough of the grannying moans.
Have a look at Dr Rob's new post. Prompted by me he's written a very snazzy poem- though it does share something of the nature of lists .