Posts

Midsummer already!

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  I have been paying attention to the heatwave warnings, so I am resting today. Having woken with the dawn chorus, I listened to an audiobook for a while and dozed off again. I've only recently discovered that the human voice makes me drop off to sleep better than yoga, relaxing poses, or calming music. That probably explains why I was in danger of dropping off to sleep during university lectures, long ago!   My alarm is set for 7.30am because my latest tablets must be taken half an hour before my morning cup of tea. My mysteriously low iron count has meant blood tests, a colonoscopy, and advice to improve my diet. Now, after a year's investigations, I have been put on a three-month course of iron!   My brother phoned from France, and I felt guilty that it was ten o'clock, so I got up and consulted the list of jobs that grows longer every day. The garden work job list is more than ten items! However, I am proud to say that the most important task, mending the back...
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THE DAFFODILS AND TULIPS HAVE BEEN WONDERFUL, DESPITE BEING BLOWN ABOUT BY THE WIND.

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                  Broken flowers, however, provided me with some for the kitchen table!      My Christmas  present from my son, David, was a mobility scooter. Sad to say it is Chinese, but it speaks English, with an American accent, telling me that when the slope is steep, it is reducing speed!! It also tells me when the brake is on and off, and reminds me to take the brake off if I want to move! I have named it Mildred - it was the first name that came into my mind. I've no idea why, I don't know any Mildreds and haven't been reading of any recently. Sarah thinks it suits. I go to church on Sundays and to the town centre every market day, when it isn't raining, and have sampled a couple of town-centre supermarkets. I worry about leaving Mildred outside the shops, as she is only insured for an hour's parking. Marks and Spencer said I should bring Mildred in and park her in front of the clothes displays, while I leaned on a...
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Spring is on its way!

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  There are yellow primroses for sale in the market. I have made a note to get some on Wednesday. My postage-sized front garden has been a disappointment. I wasn't expecting much from it as it only gets a few minutes of afternoon sun. The yellow pansies, which tempted me with their large, bright yellow faces, only gave me small flowerheads, riddled with holes.   I guess there is a bug eating them. I tried feeding the pansies and wallflowers. The wallflowers responded with branching, shiny leaves, but the pansies were still unhappy. I'm going to put yellow primroses between the plants. So much for my strip of soil bordering the carpark.  My urns in the back garden, in full view of my dining table, were lovely with white cyclamen, but most were killed by our few days of snow, a rarity here in East Anglia. Crocuses, which had been planted in deeper layers in the urns, gradually replaced them, but for some reason, one urn was full of bright yellow crocusses two wee...
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Wishing everybody a fruitful and memorable 2026!

  2026! I've just written the New Year date on a cheque!  -Yes!  I am old-fashioned and still using them! As my letters are typed these days, there is scarcely any need to write a date. I find it hard to remember which day it is! Sundays, Fridays, and bin collection days are the only days I must remember.  I do use memory aids, like the paper calendar I scribble notes on, as it sits on my kitchen worktop, and on phone and computer apps. They kindly remind me of birthdays, festivals, and appointments in India and England.  The world clock is a boon for me as I get and send lots of messages to India with a four, or five-and-a-half-hour time difference.  It is very bad manners to forget and wake someone up in the night.  I write shopping lists, and invariably forget to take them with me! However, if I have counted the items, it does help me to make a new mental list. Sometimes, I remember what the word began with, and have to go through the alphabet, to t...
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Christmas Past! At Awaas Seva Sadan and Prem Niwas.

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The  Christmas celebrations at Awaas Seva Sadan began with board games competitions, a walking event and these were followed by party games on Christmas Day.  Two weeks of competition heats culminated in a Prize giving on Christmas Day evening. Staff  Sports Day was on Boxing Day.        Being strictly vegetarian and non-alcoholic, there was fruit juice made from grapes.  We even had eggless Christmas cake for those who did not eat eggs. Christmas at Prem Nivas with our HIV children was concerts, decorations, carols, a nativity play, and a huge party with all the Children under Brighter Future's umbrella, followed by a picnic in the park, and fun and games in the sea at Visakapatnam. 
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Wishing All My Friends and Acquaintances A Very Happy and Holy Christmas!

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Some things I remember of my childhood.

 I am so pleased to tell you that I am now an 'indie author'!  And I have sold 57 books!   A month or two ago, I had no idea what "indie" meant. Now I know it stands for 'independent'!  'Independent' in this case, means not supported for editing, proofreading, marketing, advice, etc. No one to hold your hand!  Recently, however, Amazon, through its USA site, has been offering these specialist services to authors, including me, as bundles from £500 to £5000. AI offered its services too, but I declined, saying that I wanted to write my book myself!   I am, however, personally very independent, usually referred to as 'stubborn', not through choice, but by necessity.   My family had been bombed out when they were living in Ilford, east of London. Mummy, my brother, 2-year-old Richard, and I were out posting a letter when the 'doodlebug' went through our house in August 1941. I was four.  Mummy and Daddy rescued a couple of rugs, a sideb...
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