A Little Love for Afghanistan

As we walked along the beach into the town one morning while we were in Wales, we walked past a group making a giant heart in the sand with Afghanistan written inside. Sometimes there seems so very little one can do except watch a horrible situation from afar, and seeing people writing a little love into the sand ... well, love is never wasted. If nothing else, it acted as a brief reminder to people walking past. 

While we were away M's synagogue sent out an appeal for clothing, toys and so on for some Afghani refugee families that had arrived locally. We wanted to help, but by the time we arrived home they had already received more items than they needed . A week or so ago they asked for donations of consumable items, particularly nappies, baby wipes and toiletries. M bought a batch and mentioned it to a neighbour who was also keen to help. He then put a note onto the WhatsApp group we share with about half a dozen of our nearest neighbours. Thanks to their generosity this was the pile that M delivered to the synagogue yesterday. We really do have lovely neighbours! 

Last week was busy. Life really does seem to have stepped up into high gear again, with TG back at school, work, music and time spent catching up with friends. On Friday evening a dear friend and her fiancé came over for dinner, the first time we had seen them since before the pandemic - there was lots of talk and lots of laughter. Today I spent part of the morning helping move band music to a different storage area, then this afternoon played my violin at an orchestra rehearsal. I gave another old friend a lift, which gave us a chance to catch up with each other properly. Next week is looking busy again, kicking off with a trip to the orthodontist for TG in the morning to get braces. She had braces for several months a few years ago, to straighten a very crooked front tooth, but she has had to wait until now to have full braces put in as her baby teeth were very slow to fall out. While obviously not looking forward to the discomfort, she is glad to finally be able to get it done. 

RIP Prince Philip

Yesterday saw the end of an era with the death of the Duke of Edinburgh. He was in hospital for a few weeks early this year and looked very frail when he was discharged so it didn't come as a shock. Of course, I feel desperately sorry for the Queen, who has lost her husband after no less than 73 years of marriage, but to die at home at a great age (two months short of his 100th birthday), having led an incredibly full life and remained in generally good health well into his nineties, seems to me more of a blessing than a matter of regret. What a hard role he took on as consort to a reigning monarch, a role he had to largely invent for himself. The Duke of Edinburgh awards that he set up to encourage young people to stretch themselves and develop skills and confidence while also contributing to their community are an extraordinary legacy. According to Wikipedia the award programme is now offered in no less than 144 countries. Rest in peace, Prince Philip.

We ventured back into the local woods today for the first time since we struggled round in ankle deep mud which nearly defeated our wellies several weeks ago, and all the mud has dried out. Green is just beginning to show through on the trees, and there are carpets of green which in a couple of weeks will be flowering bluebells. We headed down to the canal and past the canal side pub which will be reopening (outdoors only) on Monday. It was good to see it with flowers in the hanging baskets and tables ready to welcome customers. Everything looks so very much more optimistic now. Covid cases are low, vaccines are happening (primarily 2nd doses at the moment), and reopening shops and outdoor hospitality seems sensible and reasonable. Only another few weeks and it will be time for indoor hospitality and indoor socialising. 

I have made two bookings for Monday for things which have not been possible since last year. M and I have booked to go swimming in the morning as the pool will be reopening; then in the afternoon I am taking TG to get her first pair of pointe shoes for ballet. I used to take her sisters to Northampton to buy pointe shoes, but a shop has opened more locally which has a good reputation for careful fitting. I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to get an appointment for the day the shop reopens. It means TG will have the shoes in time for her next class. She is looking forward to being able to go back to dancing in the studio again next week. Her dance school has done a great job of keeping classes going by Zoom, but it isn't the same. 

I don't know when this wooden man appeared beside the canal tow path, but today was the first time I noticed him. I am an unobservant person in many ways, but I am surprisingly good at spotting things while walking, so I think it can't have been there long. 

I didn't write a blog post yesterday as I got distracted exploring Scrivener writing software. I have downloaded a 30 day free trial but have already decided that I will buy the full version as it will make writing projects massively easier. To try it out I have set up a project in Scrivener to keep my family history writing and notes together - it is so much easier to see what I have (and haven't!) done, and it has a facility to easily split the working space into two separate documents so that I can have notes open for reference alongside the section I am writing and switch easily between different documents.