Destroying the Amazon Rain Forest.

I was inspired when I was at school by a teacher at this small school in East Grinstead called Miss Greeley and she came from Breed and when she talked about "The Rain Forest" she entered another world and you knew she was there in her mind. I am not sure whether she had ever been there, as she was very disabled; she looked as if she had had polio as a child, but she had mentally been there.
This was a small school which is now closed in Crowborough in East Sussex with an enlightened Headmistress called Miss Cholmley. I as a school girl only realised this with hind sight!
How do you have some effect on a world leader whose actions will influence us all!
I have spoken to a lot of people who are as concerned as I am.We think that if you can raise enough money to buy "The Rain Forest" you could stop this man in South America cutting down all the trees. Judi Dench is on at this moment in a series called "Judi Dench's Wild Borneo Adventure" which is very exciting and she has adopted three Orangutans which she says are very under threat. The mothers are killed so the young have no way of knowing the way to behave, and there is an Orphan sanctuary in the area of which Judi has become a patron.
I think that there are enough people that believe in what is happening to the planet and want to do something about it. It is so sad that there are many species that haven't been discovered yet in the Rain Forest and there are certain leaves that are medicinal and can be used an have not been discovered yet. Please protect The Rain Forest!

A New Beginning!

I said to our Prayer Group that we should look at life as "New Beginnings" with no idea that Will was struck by Cancer.
This was very lucky as Will playing with the grandchildren in Dubai felt that he had done something to his insides and thought it could be a hernia, everyone said that you could live with a hernia. But a Doctor in Guys Hospital thought he needed a scan which they gave him, They discovered that as the Doctor said there was two areas of cancer. The tumours had been leaching out making him feel lethargic  The Doctor felt he needed an op in Kings College hospital the  hospital in London then he went into hospital and was put in a ward that was all cancer patients and they and he could have nothing by mouth and was so thirsty this went for 10 days with this regime.
He had some vivid dreams whilst this was going on and the children were amazing and all came to see him. We thank all the friends that supported us.
The Doctor was quite right and we were in luck as he had a very large abdominal op, but thank God he still with us!
My "New Beginnings" wasn't what I had expected!

Arriving in Cornwall

Arriving in Cornwall! A very emotional trip, saying goodbye to those you loved and saying hallo to strangers! But would become soulmates.
We had been swimming with the family in Joseph's pool in his garden and Will was doing Grumpy's thing of throwing grandchildren into the pool and felt he had done something to himself maybe a hernia or something similar. He went to a doctor at King's Hospital in South  London who did some investigations, he was always feeling tired and no one could tell him why, but this doctor thought there was something else going on and gave him a scan an then discovered that he had abdominal tumour - a cancer - which required a major op which he had at Kings.
Getting back here Will and myself suddenly found that a lot of our friends are coping with the same problem and the article I was writing on soya beans will have to wait! But it will come!

Leaving London

Sadly we say farewell to Vincent Square and had a last very small but joyous Carol Party on the 30th of November 2018.

Shrouds of the Somme

I was able to go to this very poignant Exhibition of the Somme, there were the list of the soldiers that had died and had no memorial but an artist had model of each soldier, which was an artist who had had an accident and couldn't use his hands, and felt he needed to portray these individual soldiers.
The names of each of these solders, were read out as you moved round the "Shrouded" figures, there was a large queue by the artist, he saw me trying to wobble over to him and walked over and I was able to shake him by the hand and congratulate him on what he had achieved.
An amazing afternoon. One I will remember all my life.

What is happening in Yemen?

Orla Guerrin is the only journalist allowed into Yemen and able to report on the conditions that the populations are putting up with! This has been highlighted on the television this week, It was said that this could be the World's worst tragedy this century with young children dying of starvation whilst the first world has plenty of food. There is in Yemen a lady called  Moza  who is educating children in that area as there is a whole generation that have missed their education at school.

In America, unfortunately Trump is stating that those families who have nowhere to go will be fined and removed from US soil. These families have nowhere to go. And felt they will be persecuted if they went home.

In Britain even "Sure Start" has been axed there seems to be no money for it. But those who live in the UK most have a meal during the day, what a horrible feeling that there are parts of this world where a lot go hungry and this seems to get worse and worse. What can we do about it? Let Governments know we shall not put up this for much longer.

Elizabeth Kendall - the modern Freya Stark

On September 20th I went to a fascinating talk by a Lady called Elizabeth Kendall talking about that little known and misunderstood country of Yemen. The reason that it is misunderstood is because nobody is travelling there and we are told that it is not advisable to do so.

Elizabeth travels frequently and can speak Arabic and is protected by a large band of Yemeni tribesmen with whom she has made good friends. The Civil war in Yemen has been going on for years and the population is now in a state of not seeing a way out. Those that are perpetuating this conflict are the Saudis and there are not enough people that are brave enough to travel and see what’s going on! How do you start? It’s difficult - one has to have contacts in the country and a genuine concern for the place. I have lived in Oman as a teacher and got to feel very much for that country and I am very concerned about what happens in that region. These travels will expose those countries that are keeping these wars continuing and those countries that are being helpful!